My name is Jaymie Sanders, and I am a junior at the University of Montana studying Cognitive Neuroscience. I have always been inspired by history through the many books I read and wished to incorporate my love of learning with traveling. Greece was my top place that I wanted to go to because of its culture and history, as well as their involvement in aiding refugees. Before studying abroad in Greece, I have never traveled outside of the United States. For the majority of my life, I have stayed in Missoula and because of this, I wanted to learn from a different perspective than what I’ve already been exposed to. It is critical for me to learn from other people and different cultures so I can broaden my understanding of the world. That is why I chose Inequality and Human Rights as my GLI theme because there are a lot of humanitarian crisis’s we face today that need to be addressed through understanding and learning. Misinformation is the key driver in ignorance.  

Studying abroad in Greece allowed me to see a different culture and their lifestyle. Greeks are always walking outdoors in the sun, swimming in the ocean, and eating outside. Greece had a very social setting that I was not prepared for. Being more introverted, this experience really pushed me out of my comfort zone. Initially, after I settled down in my new apartment, I felt a mixture of homesickness and excitement. I felt so silly for being sad and longing home as much as I did. I missed the mountains, my support system, and small things that you never recognize in your day to day life–like knowing where to go in town to get certain groceries or being able to drive your car. But after a few weeks, once I found a routine, I completely fell in love with Greece and this study abroad experience. Integrating yourself with a random group of people, being forced to ask questions and ask for help, was an eye-opening experience for me. I got to travel to four Greek islands (Aegina, Paros, Santorini, & Zakynthos), travel to historical temples, and visit the most beautiful beaches. Being alone in a foreign country, with no guide except trusting yourself, creates a kind of independence that I have never experienced.

I was blessed to be able to travel to many other cities while abroad; I went to Budapest, Paris, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Milan, Venice, and Rome. I fell in love with the food, the different cultures, and the art. Seeing the rich histories in person was surreal and I came into each country with no expectations, just enjoying my journey. Being very much an itinerary person, I had a list of sites I wanted to see. But as I traveled, I learned that taking each day with a grain of salt created lifelong memories. You do not need to see every touristy site and burn yourself out to get a fulfilling experience; simply being present and taking moments to walk around and find yourself in a completely different place than you imagined, makes this experience unique to only you. One of the most memorable moments I still think about, is when my friend and I traveled to Zakynthos for the weekend, we took a tour of the island with a group from the UK and we visited a historical park that had a mini amphitheater. Our tour guide taught us how to perform a traditional Greek dance and we were all holding arms, dancing in a circle laughing. I will never forget memories like those, solely a unique experience with amazing people.

While I was abroad, I took a psychology course for diversity and social issues. This class provided me a different perspective of how Greeks view racism and discrimination. Just like the United States, they have their own social issues that affect minorities in their society. The Greeks take pride in their country and history and are traditional in their nature, yet they are also humble and welcoming to foreigners. During this experience, I was able to see a different culture’s perspective on politics and social justice issues and see how their values and beliefs aligned to how they treat others. Through this beyond the classroom experience, I wish to carry this value of connecting perspectives to reach a greater understanding between cultures in my capstone project.

My name is Halley Linscheid, I’m a Senior at UM getting a BFA in Media Arts with an emphasis in digital filmmaking. Before college, I took a gap year, and my traveling was cut 10 weeks short because of Covid. For that reason, I already felt somewhat trapped moving to Missoula and wanted to go somewhere huge compared to here for my Beyond the Classroom Experience. I originally wanted to study abroad but there weren’t many film programs available in English, and since I have always wanted to live in New York, one of the best places to study filmmaking in the world, I thought it would be the perfect fit to spend my semester there. When I arrived in New York I had an image of it that is shared amongst many people who have never been to such a large and romanticized city. After a few days, I started to understand what it was really like to live there but ended up loving it all the same, just for different reasons. I was able to do a lot of things I wasn’t able to do in Missoula like create relationships with a wide variety of people, eat a ton of different types of foods, go out to large shows, comedy events, and museums, be truly on my own, see a different perspective on filmmaking, and gain connections that could help me move back to New York if I choose to pursue filmmaking there.

New York was perfect in many ways. Although it’s nice to be back in Missoula, and it’s much easier to live here than there, I miss New York very much and more every day! Surprisingly, one of the things I miss the most is sitting on the Subway for longs period of time, which you definitely can’t find in Montana (-:

Me biking across the Williamsburg Bridge on my last night in New York.