A little background on Heidi and what makes her so cool: she is a Biology and German major and spent her sophomore studying abroad in Salzburg, Austria (but in reality all over Europe because she was ALWAYS traveling). As a biology major she has pursued various areas of research and as a German major she vastly expanded her language skills while working at a practice in Germany. Lets here was she has to say:
Q: Why did you choose to attend the study abroad program in Austria?
Heidi: I had been dreaming of studying abroad in German speaking country for a very long time. My father is German, him and my mother have lived there and it has always been a part of my history I wanted to get to know better and connect with. Studying abroad in Salzburg helped me understand the culture my father’s side of the family comes from.
Q: What were some of the highlights of your year in Austria?
Heidi: Breaking the whole trip in to a few highlights is nearly impossible. Every experience I had was special and unique in its own way. I loved every moment of it. Although one of the coolest places I visited was in Croatia, it’s where my picture is from. This place was incredibly beautiful and was one of my many favorite places.
Q: A year is a long time; did you ever get homesick? If so how did you deal with it?
Heidi: It was all very exciting at first and for the first two months we traveled a lot. This kept me distracted from home, but once the initial excitement wore off I did begin to miss home. My parents came to visit me over Christmas and that helped a lot. After that Salzburg became my home, I met my best friends and second semester went by in a breeze. I was happy to come home but I wouldn’t mind going back.
Q: Your German is at a very advanced level, German is not required to go on the trip, and did you see having your German language skills as an advantage?
Heidi: Knowing German was very helpful in Austria and Germany, but those were not the only places we traveled. German only helped so much. We went to many different countries where they spoke different languages. My German helped to an extent. Our campus’s main language was English; communication on campus was never a problem.
Q: Was the adjustment coming home difficult?
Heidi: Coming home was no problem at all. It was like I never left. While I had all these new memories and experiences coming home was easy. The difficult part was missing being in such a cool place with endless opportunities to travel. It is harder to do that here.
Heidi could speak endlessly about her trip because it was so amazing; She had a great time and recommends it to anyone who is considering going if or if not you can speak German.