Student Bloggers

Hello! Well this is an exciting time for myself (and hopefully for you all as well). A lot of times people who are studying abroad get asked questions such as: why did you choose to study abroad or why did you choose your specific program/country? Well I’m going to answer these questions for my own experiences and choices here shortly.

So it all started way back in high school (man it’s hard to remember all those years back). I have always had a fascination with other cultures, especially German. I took four years of high school German and had decided that I would go and see this beautiful and foreign land at some point in my life. When I originally enrolled in St. Louis University (St. Louis, MO) I was certain to study abroad in their Madrid campus. However, my grades began to suffer and I unfortunately did not qualify for the study abroad program through SLU. I was devastated, really upset that I was unable to go and participate in a culture firsthand. After two years at SLU I decided to head to Penn State to get a (relatively) fresh start. My GPA started to rise dramatically at Penn State and I realized that study abroad was once again within my grasp. I was unsure of what program to search for when I encountered the link on the education abroad webpage. I searched through every destination and program hundreds of times before narrowing my search down to two countries. I was either going to Italy or Germany. I had never thought about Italy before but one of the programs (Food and Sustainability) really caught my attention. I then applied to the program and got accepted. As I learned more and more about the program my excitement grew. I’m currently typing this in the Newark airport waiting for my flight to leave! No matter what, I know that these next few months will be some of the most memorable of my life.

As for the first question, why did I study abroad, I have a specific trip that cemented the idea. My stepfather, Mike, has a twin brother in the Air Force and is stationed in Japan with his family. Mike wanted to visit him and I asked if I could tag along to see everyone and experience Japan. Luckily for me, Mike is a stand-up guy and relented. We went to Japan for only a week but I absolutely fell in love with everything about the country that I experienced. I loved the big city atmosphere, the friendliness, the respect shown to all people. I realized that if I fell in love with a culture in such a short trip, then I could really become part of a culture if I spent a semester or longer studying.

I am so excited to apply everything I’ve learned over the last 21 years and learn so much more in the coming months. But most importantly, I’m ecstatic to share all of my experiences (the good, the bad, the tasty) with everyone who reads this blog. With that I simply say “Ciao” and welcome aboard.