As a freshman, I was excited for all the opportunities that lay ahead, including a wonderful semester abroad. However, life often changes quickly, and you have to adapt. For me, these changes were not setbacks but rather new opportunities. I joined a sorority and took on high positions, including becoming the President of Delta Gamma. This role required my presence on campus, which meant I had to give up my plans to study abroad. However, I did get to travel across Europe for a month with my close friend Hayden, and we were joined by an exchange friend from high school for most of the trip. This experience was enriching, and I decided to reschedule my “beyond the classroom” experience to take place in Missoula. While it wasn’t exactly international travel, my time in Missoula turned out to be incredibly valuable.

For nearly two years, I have worked at Alpine Physical Therapy, so I knew I wanted to shadow Brace Hayden for my internship. I had specific questions and goals in mind to make the most of my experience at Alpine PT. My summer internship included shadowing professionals, learning new techniques, and researching insurance policies that affect access to healthcare, specifically physical therapy.

Missoula is a place many are familiar with, so I won’t go into detail about my favorite places to eat like Tandem Bakery or Green Source, nor will I describe my floating adventures and other summer activities. Instead, I want to highlight a significant milestone: the Missoula Half Marathon. Thanks to Alpine Physical Therapy, I used one of their free registrations and completed my first half marathon! Additionally, I volunteered at their station, where I had the chance to meet and talk with many out-of-state runners.

A big part of my internship involved researching different insurance providers, including Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS), Allegiance, and Pacific Source. For BCBS, the extent of coverage depends on the plan, with some plans requiring authorization for services. Allegiance has a broad network of in-network providers but typically requires a referral or a note from a primary provider for further treatment. Pacific Source offers greater accessibility, as in-network providers do not require a referral. This research helped me understand how insurance policies affect patient access to physical therapy.

Another goal of my internship was to explore ways to improve patient access to services. In discussions with Brace, he explained the concept of letters of medical necessity. He guided me through the process of writing these letters, showing me the importance of detailed progress notes and explaining how further medical intervention would benefit the patient. This insight was very helpful and enhanced my understanding of the administrative side of healthcare.

One of the most interesting parts of my internship was learning about vertigo, specifically Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV). I observed many Epley maneuvers and watched patients’ balance being restored. I also learned about other medical conditions such as low back pain and neck pain. Although I didn’t travel abroad, my summer in Missoula was fantastic and filled with wonderful learning opportunities.

This experience showed me that valuable opportunities and learning experiences can be found close to home. My time in Missoula allowed me to grow both personally and professionally, and I am grateful for the enriching experiences and the knowledge I gained during my internship.

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.

My name is Marissa Harper, and I am a junior majoring in Management Information Systems and International Business. I am half-Japanese, which influenced my decision to minor in Japanese and study abroad in Japan for my Beyond the Classroom experience. As the largest city in the world, I thought there would be no better place in the country to study my global theme, Technology and Society, than Tokyo. I have visited Japan many times to visit my relatives growing up, but it was my first time visiting Tokyo and living in a big city. Never could I imagine a place that combines traditional culture with modern technology as this city does, and I am truly grateful for the invaluable opportunity I was given to experience this for the past 6 months.

My first couple of months here was overwhelming to say the least. The metro system may have been the most difficult thing for me to grasp, and almost 6 months later, I still find myself getting on the wrong train! I felt underprepared and lost, and I found myself too scared to speak with others in fear of messing up my Japanese. Fortunately, I was able to meet people in my dorm soon after moving in, and I made some lifelong friends who helped me overcome my worries and made this place feel like home. We took lots of photos in photobooths (photobooths called Purikuras are very popular, even though they look kind of scary!), ate at lots of cute cafes and restaurants, visited shrines and temples across Tokyo, made sure to get our years worth of shopping done, and even went to a few concerts (the last one I went to was Bruno Mars).

Despite the whole country being the size of Montana, Tokyo alone has enough to see and do to last a person for years. Of course, that is not to say that I did not travel outside of Tokyo during my exchange. I visited Kyoto and Osaka with my friends during the fall break, where we rented kimonos for a day and explored areas like Gion (the Geisha district) and Arashiyama. A couple of us went to visit Hokkaido for a weekend in December. My friends went to the hot springs for the first time, and one of them saw snow for the first time as well! Finally, I went down to Nagasaki and Fukuoka in Kyushu, which is where my relatives live, to celebrate the New Year. It was my first time spending the New Year in Japan, and it was just as big of a holiday as Christmas is in the US.

Though there was no doubt that the food and sights in Japan were amazing, what really made this experience memorable were the people I met along the way. I got to see my family who I had not seen in years, made many new friends that I will cherish, and even met countless kind locals who have made me feel welcome. People in Tokyo seemed quite used to foreigners, especially compared to those I met in Nagasaki and Fukuoka, and they made sure to be very patient with me when I struggled to say something, which helped me overcome my fear of talking and open up.

Japan was both a familiar and new environment, and not only did I learn more about the country, but I also learned a lot about myself and identity. I am so grateful for the people and experiences I encountered, and though I almost wish I could have stayed longer, I will go home satisfied, knowing I got to thoroughly enjoy my time in Japan. Japan is a collectivist society, and what I learned from that is that people look out for each other. The technology, from translated self kiosks to something as common as the train or bus, are designed by people, for people. I want to embody this value of collectivism within technology in my capstone project, because it is amazing to see what people and technology are capable of doing when they work together.

Hello! My name is Emma Hasquet and I spent my Beyond the Classroom Experience studying abroad this past 2023 fall at Aberystywth University in Wales. I studied wildlife conservation as I am studying wildlife biology at UM, and focused on marine biology to help tackle the challenge of looking into local ways to combat climate change. My university was in a coastal town, so it was the first time I was able to experience living by an ocean for an extensive amount of time. The courses taken at the university were also fairly different than the ones taken at UM, with assignments being far fewer, yet more extensive in nature, so that took some getting used to. However, the professors and courses taken were very interesting. For instance, I took a GIS class that involved us mapping Ouzel populations on a mountain called Cadair Idris, that I was able to climb by taking a bus just an hour north.

While abroad in the UK, I focused heavily on traveling and managed to explore many parts of Wales, Scotland, and England. At first, I was unsure about choosing which term to complete my semester abroad, but studying in the fall was actually a great choice as the fall colors were very vibrant, and the cozy, yet moody weather autumn tends to bring was perfect to experience the quaint and historic villages found throughout the UK.

One thing I did a lot of while abroad was solo traveling. It was the first time I had been to a new country without my family or friends and was in turn responsible for every aspect of a journey — transportation, finding accommodation, food, and overall planning. However, I met so many people at hostels, restaurants, and even on mountains that I never felt truly alone. Going to the UK also made for a fairly easy transition culturally as most people speak English, and are similar to Americans. The UK also had quite the array of landscapes to explore. Even cities, such as Scotland’s capital: Edinburgh, has a hill to climb in its center. National parks there are stunning, and Wales is home to Snowdonia National Park, which covers about a third of the entire country. My favorite sites though have to be given to Scotland. I was able to visit there a couple of times, and made it to the Isle of Skye which is home to the Cuillin Range, and the Quiraing–both showstopping mountain ranges. Also, the amount of sheep I saw was absolutely brilliant, and they triple the population of humans in Wales alone.

Throughout my time abroad, I grew as an individual because I became more self-reliant and sensible. I was capable of doing so much more than I thought, even without a car, and I became more familiar with other cultures by meeting people from all around the world. I had roommates from France, Germany, and Spain, and a girl on the field hockey team I practiced with was from South Africa. It was always fascinating to hear about everyone’s upbringing, and it is heartwarming to know I have connections throughout other parts of the world I would have not established without this experience. If I could do it again, I would, but I would definitely try and study for an entire year. I felt welcome most everywhere I went, and while there were some steep learning curves to find my bearings at the start, pushing myself out of my comfort zone ultimately paid off and I made memories that will last forever.

My name is Luca Welle, and I spent a semester in Costa Rica studying sustainable development with the International Center for Development Studies. The program mainly consisted of taking classes four days a week in the capital city of San José at the Universidad Latina de Costa Rica. One of our classes was focused on community engagement, and was coupled with service at a community organization. Two mornings per week, I and two other students worked at Parque Ecologico Itarar planting, clearing brush, crafting mosaics, and more. On some afternoons and weekends, ICDS would plan activities from learning about cacao production to staying overnight at a voluntourism/organic coffee farm in the mountains. On many weekends, other students and I would plan trips to places like the cloud forests of Monteverde to zipline or one of the numerous beaches to snorkel and see bioluminescent algae. We also went to the museums downtown to learn more about Costa Rica’s culture and past. Despite these and other amazing experiences that I had while abroad, I did not enjoy living in a city as large as San José. There was far more concrete and steel than greenspace, and without a car getting out of the city could be logistically challenging and expensive. I oftentimes missed the familiarity I had with my home in Montana, where I am extremely grateful for the access to the outdoors that we have. When all is said and done, my Beyond the Classroom experience was worthwhile; I learned a lot about sustainability, community, the world we are apart of, and most importantly–myself.

Hello everyone! My name is Carson Cronk and I am majoring in Management Information Systems with a certificate in Global Leadership. Through my global theme of technology and society, I want to help people around the world adapt to a world of advanced technology and innovation. Through my Beyond the Classroom Experience, I was able to expand my horizon through an internship with a technology company.

This summer, I had the incredible opportunity to work at ATG, a tech company founded in Missoula. Summer in Montana is my favorite time of the year. For this reason, I couldn’t resist the urge to stay in Missoula and gain experiences that will help me kickstart my career. ATG (which is owned by Cognizant) was an incredible fit because they are a technology consulting company that has an expansive array of clients and services across the world, yet they have deep roots in the local community. These are both values that I share, and I was thrilled to spend twelve weeks of my summer learning more about ATG, the technology industry, and the art of consulting.

Over the course of the summer, six other interns and myself worked through multiple tech advisory projects and expanded our networks through mentoring from the leading minds at the company. I was also able to work with a local non-profit in a systems integration project. As the project manager, I lead our team through each stage of the project and made sure we delivered a solution that advanced their mission. All of these experiences were an incredible privilege and I learned so much about being a leader. I gained invaluable experience in business consulting and the future of technology, two skills that directly align with my personal aspirations and my global theme. I am so grateful for this opportunity and can’t wait to see what the future holds!

Hello! My name is Samantha Boutte and for my Beyond the Classroom experience I went to Valencia Spain. While there I had an internship at an immigration nonprofit that fit in with my theme of inequality and justice as well as my major as a social worker. I gained so much experience but also got to view the nonprofit immigration sector from another perspective that I think will be valuable to share with organizations here in the US.

I was also able to explore places around Valencia. These excursions included seeing castles, beaches, small towns, museums, and so much more. During these excursions I met so many new people and learned so much from them and their home country. I was also able to visit Portugal while abroad! Overall this experience has greatly impacted me. I got to experience a new culture, new food, new people and saw how their culture affected their politics in regards to immigration and their approach to it.