June 2019 – Beyond the Classroom

Grüß Gott aus Österreich!

Greetings from Austria!

As I’m nearing the end of my exchange, I’ve been able to begin reflecting on my entire experience. It’s pretty overwhelming to think back on all that I’ve learned and done in the past five months and think that it’s all coming to an end in the next few weeks. I‘ve been so greatful for this experience and GLI and UM exchange program for helping me be able to do this.

For GLI, my global theme is Natural Resource and Sustainability. Here, at UNI GRAZ I’ve taken courses that are more about the humanities and the social constructs behind this concept than my typical science courses. I’ve been studying how our language and different political and media platforms effects how we talk about environmental issues, how cinema and the movie industry effect the environment and how it changes our prospective on the earth and nature, and I’ve also looked at extinction and how this is an ever growing issue that is in need of immediate attention. These courses, along with various cultural courses have helped me to think in a completely different way. I normally look at the environment with a scientific lens, but in Austria I was able to put down the field tools and really look at the social aspects we’ve had behind our current environmental crisis. Doing this has helped me to understand the importance of looking at an issue from all angles and attacking it in multiple different ways, rather than just one.

While being here, I’ve been able to really look introspectively about how I live my everyday life. I know it’s a cliché to say that I’ve discovered who I am while I’ve been abroad but I can honestly say that I’ve felt that happening. Being away from the states and the drama that surrounds our politics and all the influence from all the media sources has allowed me to deepen my own perspectives and solidify what I believe. my simple everyday interactions that I’ve been having with people from a different culture have allowed me to do just that. I’ve been able to break the mundane habits that I didn’t even realize I was so rooted in, by adapting and exploring a new way of living and thinking.

Specifically relating to my GLI theme and challenge, I think this experience has made me realize that sustainability isn’t only a problem that America is struggling to address, but it’s also and issue across the world. There is a universal discourse happening about climate change and waste management and resource allocation that I never knew was actually going on. It’s been rewarding to discuss natural resource and climate issues with people from all over the world and realize that we all sharing the same frustrations and all strive for a global shift towards sustainability.

Being in Austria I’ve been able to grow into my own as a leader. Usually being one of the only Americans in a class I’ve turned into almost a spokesperson for the American viewpoint (even though I am not qualified for that position). I’ve been able to lead discussions about the climate and other contentious topics in the US while practicing the necessary leadership skills to facilitate a productive conversation. I’ve been really impressed with how open-minded people can be when you have coherent conversations that allow for everyone to gain a greater understanding of a shared interest.

Sense coming to Europe back in February, I’ve been able to travel and form unimaginable bonds with people all across the world. I’ve visited Austria, Slovenia, Italy, Georgia, Czech Republic, Macedonia, Spain, Slovakia, Hungry and Germany. The best part of every trip though, was the people. talking with people outside of my exchange group and outside of Austria from countries I’ve barely given thought about has shown me how fascinating the world can be. despite culture and upbringing and language, a human is a human and each one is so special. Everywhere I’ve been has been unique and eye opening. Because of this exchange I have made connections with not only incredible people, but incredible places and for that I am forever grateful.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is img_1947.jpg — The Parthenon in Athens

Greece is the land between the East and West, not quite conforming to either culture, but instead creating a beautiful blend that results in a place of good food, kind people and history spanning the millennia. Choosing to spend a semester in Athens was one of the best decisions of my college career, allowing me to step outside of Montana, into a place of growth and learning.

For my GLI theme, I am focusing on culture, something very different each place you go, but more specifically of the interactions between cultures and how prejudice and hate from within cultural groups. Athens was a wonderful place to end up with such a theme. I took a Modern Greek History class while there, and gained new insight into the formation of Greece as it is today and the conflict that brought it there. I focused individually, for a class paper on the Greek Jewish Population during the occupation and Holocaust. They faced 87% extermination of their population in just four years, one of the highest in all of Europe, due to hate and prejudice against their religion. It was incredible to learn about a population I had never before encountered.

I had the opportunity to take a few weekend trips while in Greece to places such as Hungary, Austria, Poland, Italy and Israel. I saw beautiful things, ate good food and took away, most of all, that every person you meet has something to teach you. Whether it’s the two, elderly Danish lady next to us at dinner in Krakow sharing Life stories with us young 20 year olds or a Taxi driver in Rome sharing the best hole in the wall place to eat (best pasta EVER!), there is something to take away from every interaction if you only take the time to stop and listen.

Each place I went, I toured museums, I saw the sites and I saw the world from new angles. I am particularly passionate about WWII, and with my challenge focusing on prejudice, I visited many places pertaining to the Holocaust and instances of hate throughout history. I visited the House of Terror in Budapest, Auschwitz 1 and Auschwitz Birkenau in Poland, and visited the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam. I saw the bloody past of mankind because of hatred in order to learn and to remember. We must acknowledge the hate and prejudice in this world in order to combat it and grow into a people better than our past.

Being the type of person who likes a plan and to stick to that plan, my time abroad taught me to be flexible and embrace the blessings that come in the form of the unexpected. Opportunity arises when you take a breath and jump feet first into whatever comes your way and I saw much of that this semester. I got to breath in the island air on my birthday weekend because I said yes and jumped on a plane to Santorini with a friend. Best of all, my roommates and I discovered the best bakery in all of Athens that fed us free treats one night because we got lost and embraced the chance to explore a new neighborhood.

I learned to listen to strangers. I learned to embrace new and unexpected opportunities. I learned to watch the world with both eyes wide open. I learned that to see the world, as much of it as physically possible, is to truly live life to the fullest. You never know what you may find in the next city you explore. I am so thankful for Athens Greece, and for my time spent abroad.