As the saying goes, pictures are worth a thousand words. But do photos capture every nuance of feeling, like one or two lines of poetry can?
William DeSena, a听CU-麻豆影院 student who spent the spring 2014 semester at sea through CU-麻豆影院's 听program, found that in poetry he could capture the steps of his journey in a way that retained sensory detail, beyond the still imagery of a photo. DeSena spent four months on a Semester at Sea (SAS) ship, visiting 12 countries that spanned from Japan to Morocco -- his favorites were Vietnam and Myanmar. Aboard the ship, DeSena spent time writing poems and re-creating what he experienced on land. When he met Nick Clement, a CU-麻豆影院 alumnus who was the SAS videographer for the trip, they collaborated and made a . The video features one of DeSena鈥檚 poems.
鈥淲hen I found out there was a videographer for the ship, I just wanted to talk to him,鈥� said DeSena, who planned to make his own video from the trip. 鈥淲e hit it off right away and became really good friends.鈥�
DeSena and Clement spent several of their travel days together, including the ancient city of Bagan,听Myanmar.
Knowing that DeSena had been writing poetry on the ship, Clement asked him to write a poem about his experience in Bagan.听The video and poem reflect the scenic views of the land, with scattered pagodas, an orange sun and 鈥渦nexpected smiles.鈥� DeSena added that with consideration of the socio-political conflicts throughout Myanmar鈥檚 history, he and classmates didn鈥檛 anticipate the very warm welcome they received from the native Burmese.
鈥淚 think the people, more than anything, blew me away in Myanmar鈥� They were some of the most honest and kind people we met on the trip,鈥� DeSena said, sharing a story about one Burmese man they encountered, who went an hour out of his way to help a group of SAS students.
鈥淲e were on mopeds, trying to find a pagoda,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd this guy was on his way to work. Somehow we got through the language barrier and he figured out which way we were trying to go. He went an hour out of his way, just to bring us there.鈥� When they got to the pagoda, the Burmese man turned around and drove an hour back.
DeSena took three courses on the ship, including "African Cinema," "International Business" and "Poetry." He said that by reading and discussing poetry, while experiencing the many rich moments of travel, he felt inspired to write some poetry himself.
鈥淚n poetry, if you can figure out how to link a couple words, even if it鈥檚 just one, two, three or four words, what they can mean in such a minimalist structure is amazing to me,鈥� DeSena said. He added that all of his poetry came out on the ship, usually when the sun rose around 6 a.m.
鈥淏eing on the ocean鈥� something was so powerful鈥� the smell of salt water, and the spray鈥� It鈥檚 so isolating but in a beautiful way,鈥� he said. A native of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, the ocean has always been one of DeSena鈥檚 most prominent sources for inspiration.
In addition to poetry, DeSena caught video for his own project, a 鈥減oetic narration鈥� about life, family and friends. As a burgeoning creative in the film industry, one of the reasons he chose to do Semester at Sea was because he wanted to create an inspirational travel video.
鈥淚 was thinking about it more and more, and thought [SAS] might be the perfect program for the video,鈥� he said, adding that because SAS brings students to multiple countries over a four-month time span, the diversity in footage would be more suitable for what he envisioned.
DeSena plans to combine his footage with archived footage from his family鈥檚 old VHS tapes.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not going to be a full on storyline鈥� more about life, family and friends. On that trip, it really hit me how much family and friends mean to me,鈥� DeSena said, mentioning that his biggest takeaway from traveling around the world was the relationships he built with other people. 鈥淪ince there are no shields up, and you have such little time, everything just pours out right then and there. Everything about you, all of your emotions, especially when traveling.鈥�
DeSena urges students considering SAS to 鈥渁bsolutely do it,鈥� referring to his trip as one of the most powerful experiences he thinks he鈥檒l ever have. Though he warns, now getting antsy when finds himself on the couch, 鈥渢he travel bug is very real.鈥�
To learn more about Semester at Sea and studying abroad, visit the on Thursday, Sept. 4, from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. in the UMC fountain area.
Photo: William听DeSena on top of a sand dune in Morocco, one of 12 countries he visited during his Semester at Sea in spring 2014. Photo courtesy of DeSena.