In order to gain a deeper understanding of the world around them, many students feel they must venture outside Creighton’s walls and experience the world first hand. The study abroad program provides students with this opportunity.

Students involved in the study abroad program attempt to gain cultural enrichment

through supplementing their traditional studies with experiencing life in a foreign country. Several Creighton students opened up and reflected on the joys and hardships of life abroad.

Business junior Hugh Byrnes recently completed his studies at the American School of Business in Paris. Because Byrnes studied at an international school, he had the opportunity to not only meet students from Europe but to meet students from all over the world as well. Having the ability to

encounter such a great deal of new people and experiences in a short period of time proved to be an “eye opening” experience for Byrnes.

“I had a great chance to meet a lot of interesting people and [have a lot of interesting] experiences,” Byrnes said. “I studied abroad in a country where I did not know the language, but I found out that everyone, or at least the majority of people in Europe knew English. I was able to communicate with them with the little French

that I knew.”

Byrnes found the most significant

cultural difference between life in Paris and life in the United States to be that Europeans seem to have a more “slow-paced lifestyle” than most Americans.

“[Europeans] can spend an hour and a half on lunch,” Byrnes said. “When they are shopping or walking in the streets everything is much slower and no one is rushing through.”

Although life abroad provides many

wonderful experiences, Byrnes could not help but miss a few things about home.

Living in a city where English is not the most prevalent language, Byrnes found it a bit difficult to communicate with people easily, that made it more of a challenge to meet new people. As an avid Chipotle eater, Byrnes also found it difficult to adjust to life without access to Mexican food.

Although he missed some aspects of his home, Byrnes said he relied on technology to ease his transition into life in Paris. Byrnes most relied on his computer and iPod Touch while living abroad because they provided him with easy access to the things he needed most.

“It was easy to bring [my iTouch] around when I traveled because I could go to any McDonald’s — which are everywhere — and look up directions or get Facebook and emails,” Byrnes said. “I mostly used Facebook to communicate with friends that I meet abroad and I often Skyped with my family and some friends from back home.”

Arts & Sciences junior Amber Schaffer spent last summer living in Granada, Spain with a host family while studying abroad at the Academic Programs International University of Granada.

Despite the fact that Schaffer had to walk a mile each way several times a day just to get to school, she found her experience in Spain to be “absolutely incredible.”

“I had the fantastic opportunity to live with a host family which consisted of a mom and a grandma,” Schaffer said. “I also had the chance to travel throughout Spain. My parents came over when I was finished with my program and we traveled together. I made friends from all over the world and had the time of my life.”

Although Schaffer expected her experiences in Spain to increase her ability to be independent and allow her to grow as a person, she never anticipated the extent to which her studies abroad would affect her understanding of other cultures and openness to new experiences.

“I came back wanting to learn even more about people different from myself,” Schaffer said. “I am absolutely fascinated by cultural traditions that are different from my own. I love their holidays, food, styles of dress, language and more.”

Before departing for Spain, Schaffer made sure to pack her sunglasses, shorts and Spanish-English dictionary, as these things would prove to come in handy nearly every day.

Even though Schaffer initially found

it difficult to adjust to life without air conditioning and a coffee pot at her disposal, she strongly encourages students to experience life abroad.

“We are only young once,” Schaffer said. “When else in our lives do we just get to pack up and leave and go study in a foreign country? Go discover something different — something out of your comfort zone. The experience, the people, the places will all help you grow and change for the better.”

Arts & Sciences senior Stephen Waters studied International Criminal Law and Human Rights in Arusha, Tanzania.

Waters’ experience living in Tanzania not only changed his life for the better, but it changed his outlook on the world as well.

“[Studying abroad] really challenged me to think outside of the box and to view the world more as a community as opposed to a bunch of isolated nations,” Waters said.

Waters’ career objectives were also affected by his time abroad. While in Tanzania, Waters was introduced to the international legal system and he “fell in love with it.”

“My exposure abroad was a moment of clarity in my educational experience,” Waters said. “I now know what I want to do [with my life], and that is to practice international criminal law.”

In fact, Waters did so well in his studies

while living abroad in Tanzania that he was invited to return for a graduate course this summer through the fall semester, as well as a position as a research assistant.

Although Waters greatly missed his daughter, his close friends and paved roads, the fact that the family structure in Tanzania was very similar to that of families living in the United States made it easier for him to adjust to life away from home.

“We all value life, liberty and justice,” Waters said. “The families in Tanzania are different in heritage and location, but at the core of their values are a love of family, education and hard work. I found more similarities than differences in our twocultures.”

Due to the ever-changing nature of the world today, Waters strongly encourages students to consider studying abroad in order to avoid being left behind.

“The social, political and economic tectonic plates of the world are currently shifting,” Waters said. “If you want to survive the quake and be a part of the fabric of the global future, as opposed to being on the fringes, studying abroad is the perfect mechanism to begin the learning process.”

For more information on how to become involved in the study abroad program, please contact a study abroad advisor at: [email protected].