FIJI
Name: Clair Osterhaus
Major: Biology Major, Chemistry & Forensic Science Minor
Year: Senior
Clair studied abroad in Fiji during the Fall of 2022 at the University of the South Pacific. Her best memories are hiking the Sigatoka Sand Dunes, going to the Yasawa Islands and Savusavu during breaks, getting scuba certified, shark diving, celebrating Fiji Day in the city, and hanging out in her flat with other exchange students.
She recommends studying abroad to get out of your comfort zone and explore different cultures and cities you may not get the chance to visit again. She says that even though it may seem scary at first, the experience will be completely worth it!
FRANCE
Name: Emma Broaddus
Major: International Business & French Double Major
Year: Senior
Emma went abroad to Université d’Angers, located in western France, in the Fall of 2022. Some of her favorite memories include attending Les Ducs d’Angers hockey games, watching France play in the World Cup, visiting family friends in La Rochelle and Rambouillet, seeing France during the holidays, visiting new cities and regions in France, and exploring England and Switzerland!
She believes studying abroad is a great opportunity to meet lifelong friends and learn about different cultures and languages. It is also a terrific opportunity to see and learn about the world, as well as discover more about yourself! She says she will forever cherish the memories that she made abroad!
FIJI
Name: Lany Borella
Major: Art History Major & Business Minor
Year: Senior
Lany studied abroad in the Fall of 2022 in Fiji! She had the opportunity to get scuba certified (her new favorite hobby), take classes in marine biology, dance with a contemporary Fijian dance group (something way outside of what she thought her comfort zone was), and made so many new friends that she still keeps in contact with today. Lany would recommend studying abroad because there is no comparable experience to it. She believes you learn so much not just in your host school, but also actual life skills as well!
FINLAND
Name: Meghan Novotny
Major: Biology Major & Chemistry Minor
Year: Senior
Meghan studied abroad in Finland in Fall 2022 as an ISEP Exchange student. She had the opportunity to travel to areas outside of Finland including Greece, Estonia, and norway. Some of her favorite memories include seeing the northern lights for the first time, watching the sunset with her friends on a rooftop in Santorini, and getting the full Finnish sauna experience in the sauna capital of the world!
She would recommend studying abroad because it’s an incredible opportunity to venture outside of your comfort zone, as well as meet people from so many different countries and cultures.
SPAIN
Name: Lydia Muchow
Major: Spanish
Year: Senior
Lydia studied abroad in Spain in Fall 2022. She made many great memories while abroad, including a weekend trip to Granada and the Alhambra with the Erasmus Student Network, New Years Eve in Granada, and getting pastries from a café everyday with her classmates during breaks between classes. She would recommend studying abroad to other students because it’s unique to get to know a new city, culture, and people.
Through studying abroad, she got to “make this city over 4,000 miles away” her home. She had awesome roommates from two different European countries, and it was so interesting to compare different aspects of their lives and languages. She also had some amazing professors who were always super enthusiastic and helpful during classes, making it an overall great experience with so many sources of natural learning.
FRANCE
Name: Alex Thornhill
Major: French & International Business Double Major
Year: Junior
Alex studied abroad in France at the Universite d’Angers in Fall 2022 through the ISEP program. One of his best memories was when France advanced to the World Cup. After the game, the streets of Angers shut down with people celebrating in the streets, parading the French flag, and playing the national anthem. He also looks back fondly on the time spent with his boyfriend Cyriaque, who taught him how to fluently speak and comprehend French through television shows, movies, and trips to many cities in Bretagne. Alex was in London during a large energy strike movement, which shut down the streets in front of Big Ben, and also had the amazing opportunity to go to the Geneva International Film Festival (GIFF) with fellow Truman student Emma Broaddus.
He would recommend studying abroad to students who are interested in becoming bilingual. He argues that the few months he had in France changed his level of fluency forever, and taught him a new level of cultural intelligence related to France’s elegant, polite, and structured society.
SWITZERLAND
Name: Sana Mahmood
Major: Business Administration Major & Design Minor
Year: Senior
Sana studied abroad in Switzerland in Fall 2022 as an ISEP Exchange student at the University of Bern. She had such an incredible experience with many incredible memories, including: Having a view of the Alps from the school’s campus, swimming in the Aare River, the longest river in Switzerland, hang gliding and paragliding in the mountains, and exploring many beautiful different towns and landscapes.
She would recommend studying abroad to other students because it is an amazing experience to live/learn in a new environment, travel to places you otherwise wouldn’t, and meet lifelong friends from around the world. She had the best time during my semester in Switzerland and wants everyone to have that opportunity during their time at Truman.
ARGENTINA
Name: Grace Bushmeyer
Major: Spanish
Year: Senior
Grace studied abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina in Fall 2022 through an ISEP program. She had the incredible experience of witnessing Argentina win the World Cup while she was there abroad. She believes it is one of the best experiences of her life. Grace said her whole semester there was incredible. She got to see so much of Argentina and even more of South America too! She recommends studying abroad to other students because you get to experience an amazing place, meet a ton of cool people, and learn so much about yourself!
FINLAND
Name: Ethan Kershaw
Major: Interdisciplinary Environmental Economics & Policy
Year: 4th year
Ethan studied abroad in Finland in Fall 2022 as an ISEP Exchange student. He has many fond memories of his time abroad, including staying in a Finnish lake house for a weekend and running from the cold lake back to the sauna. He would recommend studying abroad to other students because he believes it is a great way to experience another culture, to meet lots of new people, and to learn to adapt to big changes!
Name: Claire Viviano
Major: Spanish Pre-MAE (Minor in Communication)
Study Abroad Program: Universidad de Burgos
Claire’s favorite memory was taking her parents around Spain during Holy Week. After touring Burgos, they made their way to Ávila, Madrid, and Barcelona. She said that she embraced the opportunity to use the Spanish that I had learned alongside my parents who had no prior experience with the language. One piece of advice she would give to future study abroad students is that: While social media posts often make studying abroad look like a fairytale, it is important to know going in that living in a new culture far away from home does come with challenges. At the same time, if you’re open to personal and professional growth by getting outside of your comfort zone, studying abroad is undoubtedly an experience of a lifetime! It is an amazing way to see the world and to be exposed to other walks of life.
Name: Katie Swenson
Major: Math & Statistics
Study Abroad Program: ISEP: University of Jyväskylä
Katie’s favorite memory was when she went to Lapland, she got to swim in the Arctic Ocean! She says “It was super cold and it definitely shocked my system, but you go to the sauna beforehand to prepare”. She highly encourages future Truman students to absolutely go study abroad! While there will always be time to adjust it is never scary as you may think it is!
Study Abroad Photo Contest
Each photo contest is done each semester to encourage students to share their study abroad experience!
Have you recently studied abroad through Truman State University? Did you take some amazing photos while you were abroad? If this is you, the CIEA is super excited to have you participate in our Semestely Photo Contest.
Qualifications:
- 1. Must currently be enrolled as a part or full-time student at Truman State University.
- 2. Must have completed some sort of study abroad experience whether it be faculty-led, summer, spring, or fall.
- The awards will be handed out for 3 categories: landscape, personal profile, and action. Students may submit up to one photo for each category. (Do not need to all categories to be entered in contest.)
- You must provide a creative caption for each of the photos submitted. Yes, this will be considered when reviewing your application. Captions must be no more than 50 words and must provide a thorough idea of the photo’s context and impact. (Think: how does this photo demonstrate an international experience?)
- Submitted photos may be from anywhere you visited while abroad, and not necessarily from your host university destination.
- When you submit your photos label them as –> “LAST NAME, FIRST > LOCATION > PHOTO CATEGORY”
Category Requirements:
- Landscape: must show a landscape (preferably long-shot) photo of a location abroad. There may not be any human subjects included. Don’t worry, if there’s some guy standing way off on the mountain you photographed, we won’t dock points. Just make sure they’re not the focal point.
- Personal/Profile: must show a single subject person (anyone) that demonstrates the significance of the setting as well as the subject. (Think: how do the two elements compliment each other?)
- Action: must show a subject(s) in action in an abroad setting and demonstrate the significance of that action in proportion to the scene behind them. Don’t panic about this one. They don’t have to be pretending to scale that same mountain we talked about earlier. Be creative with this one. (Think: how do I show the audience some fun while I was abroad?)
Submissions will always be sumbitted through a google form from our Instagram acount!
Need some inspiration? Here were our previous photo contestant winners:
Photo Contest Winners
Landscape
IZZY HEINTZ
“Seville: The most vibrant and colorful city for a culture so full of life.”
Portrait
CATHERINE DUNCAN
“Standing in the light of a stained glass mosaic in the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba, I had the realization that someone had stood in the same spot thousands of years ago. It was a moment of appreciation for the opportunity to visit such historically significant and influential locations.”
Action
TRENTON KIESLING
“Other study abroad students and myself hanging on for dear life and we dropped over 20 feet on the world’s largest commercially rafted waterfall in New Zealand!”
Center for International Education Abroad
Truman State University
Baldwin 106
100 East Normal Avenue
Kirksville, MO 63501
(660) 785-4076
studyabroad@truman.edu