Twitchell heads back across the pond

It was a little less than a year ago when Groton High School alum Hope Twitchell ’17 headed to Oxford University to spend the first semester of her senior year at Florida’s Southeastern University studying abroad in England.

The program she studied through is Scholarship and Christianity In Oxford (SCIO), which was developed to promote intellectual growth, as well as spiritual growth, in a world that claims you must choose one or the other.

Twitchell returned to Southeastern University to complete her second semester, earning summa cum laude and a bachelor’s in psychology. She is now poised to head back to the city of Oxford this September to take an internship at St. Aldates Church for a year.

While at GCS, Twitchell was a member of National Honor Society, Tri-M Honor Society, class council, student council, drama club, French club, art club and band and was Area-All-State and All-County for voice. She also kept busy playing on the varsity soccer, basketball and golf teams.

Many may remember her for the roles she played in the GHS musicals, beginning with a small part in “Cinderella” in second grade, to larger roles in “Beauty and the Beast,” “Oklahoma!” and “My Fair Lady” during her high school years.

Twitchell ended her senior year playing the lead role in “State Fair” and being named valedictorian of her class with a GPA of 98.354.

Outside the walls of GHS, Twitchell was a volunteer at the Cortland Regional Medical Center, a member of the Groton Community Choir and very active in her church, Groton Assembly of God. She was a nursery worker, children’s church worship leader and a member of youth group and Impact Girls’ Ministries.

Given all that, it is not surprising that Twitchell said her passion is to study and experience international cultures firsthand and to serve others in whatever ways she can.

As Twitchell finished out her final semester at Southeastern, part of her time was spent with a research team called the Spirituality and Personality Research Center (SPARC) and the rest completing her honors thesis that was two years in the making, “Overcoming communicative and cultural barriers: a study of the perceptions and interactions between American and international students.”

The primary topic for her thesis focused on relationships between international and American students. Twitchell credited her experience of traveling and studying abroad at Oxford with giving her firsthand experience for writing it.
Throughout her middle and high school years, Twitchell studied French passionately, and not because her mother, Annette Twitchell, was her teacher, but because she loved it.

In her junior year at GHS, Twitchell traveled to France with the rest of the French Club students.

“When I left France that year, it was so emotional for me,” Twitchell said. “I knew in my heart I would go back there someday, and while I was at Oxford, I got to visit France again, so my heart’s desire came true.”

Twitchell also said she had dreamed about studying abroad since her mom told her about her own experiences abroad as a college student.

During her time at Oxford, Twitchell spent a great deal of time in the community, particularly at her church, St. Aldates. It was there that she learned of the internship, St. Aldates School of Ministry, that she is preparing to undertake next year.

“People really encouraged me to apply for the internship because they felt my skill set, passion, personality and desire to serve people really fit what was needed,” Twitchell said. “I applied in December and was accepted within the week.”

Twitchell will be serving in the Internationals Department of the ministry, helping with the international population in the city of Oxford. She will be providing English classes and putting on welcoming and socialization events for 20 hours each week.

“These events are a wonderful opportunity for people to meet other internationals who might feel displaced in a foreign country,” Twitchell said. “St. Aldates is like a home away from home for so many.”

During the remaining 20 hours of her work week, Twitchell will spend six of them in schooling in theology, discipleship and leadership to hone her skills, with the remaining 14 hours spent serving in St. Aldates’ homeless ministry, women’s and children’s ministry or wherever extra hands are needed.

While at Oxford this past year, Twitchell’s concentration was psychology with tutorials focusing on cognition, language and development. Her tutor, Matthew H.C. Mak, provided her an opportunity to work on an independent study above and beyond her usual workload.

Her study was based on “word learning,” and the results ended up being meaningful and significant enough that, combined with Mak’s previous work, a paper was published in the Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, an online journal, titled “Evidence for preferential attachment: words that are more connected in semantic networks are better at acquiring new links in paired-associate learning.”

Twitchell is very proud to have her first publication with her name on it. She is presently working with another professor from Oxford on a study involving spiritual experiences between various cultures and is hopeful that it will also be published when it is finished.

“I feel that my passion for studying French helped prepare me for stepping out into different positions involving people with varied cultural backgrounds such as the one with St. Aldates,” Twitchell said.

She is looking forward to the next adventure and hopes to build more connections with people at Oxford University for her future academic plans.

Groton on the Inside appears weekly. Submit news ideas to Linda Competillo, lmc10@cornell.edu or 607-227-4922.

In brief:

Music in the Pavilion

The Groton American Legion on Main Street will be sponsoring “Music in the Pavilion” from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28, featuring Three’s Company and again at the same time on Friday, Sept. 11, featuring Doug Houck.
Refreshments will be available for purchase. Masks are required when not seated. Save the dates and plan to head over to the Legion for a relaxing night on the town.

Free backpacks for Groton students

Beginning at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 29, Groton Assembly of God church, 701 S. Main St., will be handing out 240 free backpacks for students in the Groton community only, grades kindergarten through grade 12, until all backpacks are gone.

The giveaway will be drive-through only in the upper parking lot of the church. Please wear a mask. They will take minimal information such as family name and quantity of backpacks given.

The team will be masked and gloved. Please follow the signs for the direction flow.

2021 First Day Hike

Save the date now for the second annual First Day Hike, sponsored by Groton Recreation. Kick off the new year and spend time outdoors with your family and friends on Jan. 1, 2021, with a community hike of the Groton Trail System.

The hike will begin at the Groton Memorial Park on Sykes Street at noon. All ages are welcome. Visit Groton Recreation on Facebook if you’d like to show you plan to attend or are interested.