When I first started looking into studying abroad, I repeatedly heard stories about the workload while abroad and how the “abroad” played a much bigger role than the “study.” Well, they fooled me. Now, my program is a unique one, because it focuses on the European Union and has three week-long trips throughout the semester that are designed to align with our studies. We just returned from the last of our trip, where our program split us into three groups, of which mine went to London, Belfast, Dublin, and Stockholm. These trips leave the rest of our class schedule packed, to say the least.
So what have I been learning? To start, I know much more about the European Union than I ever expected to. How it started as the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952 as an economic organization that could help prevent further conflict between the major powers in Europe of France and Germany. How it is now made up of 28 countries, but is likely losing a member state for the first time during finals week next semester on March 29 when the UK exits. That’s right, I can tell you just about everything you could ever hope to know about Brexit as well. Insider scoop – Britain is probably in trouble.
The great part about this program is that we get to travel to the places where the most important decisions are made in the EU and talk to key officials. We have been to the parliament buildings of the EU, the UK, and Sweden, and talked to members of the EU and Swedish parliaments. Apparently the parliament members in Britain have other things to worry about currently…
Speaking of, my Brexit class and I got to meet with negotiators who have been working in overdrive to hammer out the details of Brexit deals on both the UK and EU sides. Additionally, the final project for our class was to meet with a class of students doing the IES program in London to present and debate our own terms for a Brexit deal.
My favorite parts of studying abroad come when ‘study’ and ‘abroad’ stop being mutually exclusive. Though much of our mornings or afternoons were filled with meetings, we had the opportunity to go on city tours and go off on our own. Our first night in London, I went to a friendly of the US men’s soccer team against England at Wembley Stadium, the largest in the UK.
I also got to meet up with a friend I made during an international leadership conference in Liverpool that I went on with a group of students from Hope College. We met up and went to see incredible artifacts like the Rosetta Stone at the British Museum.
Thanks to my crazy network of friends and family spread out all over Europe, I also got to see many other people from different stages of my life:
Yes, I have been very busy and I should probably get started on that 12 page paper due soon, but in the past month I truly have gotten to experience a great blend of both studying and being abroad. I am developing a much greater understanding of Europe as a collective whole – its problems and its functions. At the same time, seeing old friends during my travels is a good reminder of why we do it in the first place. To meet people from different places and share ideas and experiences with each other.