Humans of Global Education

Major: MBA
Program: CU Denver in Germany & Czechia: Business Insights & Cultural Delights

I did not study abroad when I was an undergraduate studying engineering at the University of Michigan and it was my biggest regret from my time as an undergraduate. So I jumped at the opportunity to study abroad now as a graduate student. The University of Michigan was at the forefront of encouraging more students (and particularly engineering students) to go abroad as part of their comprehensive education and preparation for the world and so they made it quite easy to go abroad and I had many friends who did and only had good things to say. I will say that going to study abroad as a graduate student was quite different from what I remember hearing from my friends about their time studying abroad as undergraduates. Not necessarily better or worse, just different. And I think that is good since, if you’re doing life right, you will be different from your time as an undergraduate to a graduate student. In any event, yes I knew for several years that I wanted to study abroad, I love traveling and all of the experiences that come along with it and I love learning, so mixing the two this directly was an opportunity I could not pass up a second time. , as well as how those abroad view you and your own culture and nationality. Examining current events through the lenses of our own lived experiences with Chinese peers was a past me I never grew tired of in my time in Beijing, and to this day I stay in touch with several of the friends I made during study abroad. CU Denver in Beijing was instrumental in my decision to eventually major in Chinese. The experience fused with some of my other interests and I went on to study post-war state building, which culminated in two years in Cambodia with the Peace Corps, followed by a focus in local government during my masters in public affairs at Indiana University. Today, I work for the Social Security Administration - and while it might seem far flung from exploring temples and riding the 地铁 in China, I absolutely credit my time in Beijing as being a superb incubator for deepening my passions and sense of identity in my undergraduate years and beyond. and trying the many different types of food, and how welcoming both cultures were. I feel like studying abroad helped me learn that I actually like traveling and has given me the confidence to step out of my comfort zone.