Many Loyola University Chicago students take advantage of the university’s study abroad opportunities, but perhaps no one as much as senior INFS/Marketing major Claire Nyenhuis. She has completed a total of 4 semesters abroad, and is set to graduate this December (a semester early).
1. Can you list all of the places you’ve studied abroad, and when you were there?
John Felice Rome Center; Rome, Italy – Fall 2016 – Spring 2017 (freshman year, Rome Start VI), visits to Italy, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, UK, France, Spain.
Loyola Vietnam Center; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam – Spring 2019, visits to Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Japan
Aalto University; Helsinki, Finland – Summer 2019 (Aug 2nd-Aug 18th), visits to Finland, Estonia
2. Your college experience has been a bit different compared to most students. Can you elaborate on that a bit?
Yes, my college experience has been different than others. By the time I graduate in December, I will have spent almost half of college experience abroad. Although this is pretty cool, there is some difficulty with spending only two years on campus. I moved to Chicago only knowing my class from Rome (about 25 of us freshman, now sophomores), and when I got to campus it felt as though everyone already knew each other and had well-established friend groups. Aside from navigating the cliques that Loyola produces, I was dealing with longer school weeks, a harder course load and on top of that, reverse culture shock. Sophomore year was difficult for me, but I think that’s true for a lot of people’s first year on a new campus. In the end it just took time to become comfortable in Chicago. I didn’t give myself much time, however, as I was itching to go abroad again. I thought I would have cured my travel bug freshman year, but I only fueled it. That’s when I found the Vietnam program and discovered all of their business course offerings. I was not going to pass up the opportunity to study abroad again. I may have missed out on the typical college experience, staying in a freshman dorm, meeting friends at orientation, and heavily participating in campus clubs, but in the end I wouldn’t have changed my experiences for anything.
3. What is one thing you’ve learned from each semester/time abroad?
My year in Rome, like many freshman years I’m sure, was all about growth. For the first time I was living away from home, and in a completely new country. I had never even been to Europe before stepping on the plane to start my freshman year. When I got back, a number of my friends and family commented on how my confidence had grown. They were right, spending that year in Rome taught me that I can do a lot. I think I learned the most from all the traveling I did. Having never done more than a road trip without my parents, and never being in Europe I had to learn how to navigate a different way of life along with new friendships and being away from home for the first time.
My semester in Vietnam I grew even more. To be immersed in a culture that was completely different than my own gave me a whole new global perspective and pushed me out of my comfort zone. I learned how privileged I am as a westerner and how lucky I am to have grown up in the USA. And to not take this for granted. Everywhere I traveled in Southeast Asia I was greeted with immense kindness and generosity that I know is not reciprocated nearly as well in the states.
In Finland I learned more about myself, by learning about where I came from. My Great-Grandmother was from Finland and there are many Finnish descendants where I’m from in Minnesota. Even though I had never been to Northern Europe, the country felt familiar. It was illuminating to see the similarities between the people, environment, and way of life of where I grew up. I finally understood why my ancestors settled in the lake land of Minnesota and I could see the famous Minnesota nice attitude in the faces of the Finnish people.
4. How has studying abroad changed your perspective on learning? Has it?
Studying abroad has definitely changed my perspective on learning. John Felice, who founded the Rome Center, had a saying that goes like “Don’t let your studies get in the way of your learning.” I took this to heart during my time abroad. In my experience, I learned more outside of the classroom than I did inside. That is not a harsh blow to my professors by any means, all of them, most native to where I was studying, knew that the best thing for us students was to support the learning outside of the classroom. Especially when the environment outside was so different. Each were proud of their home country and wanted to share as much of it as they could in the short time we were there. Traveling taught me as much as I learned in my classes back at Loyola in Chicago. I learned how to problem-solve when plans came unraveled, I learned how to compromise when friend’s interests differed, and I learned how to adapt when thrown into a completely new environment.
5. I know it’s hard to choose, but are you able to choose your favorite abroad location? If not, can you talk about your favorite part of each experience?
Honestly, I can’t choose. Each opportunity taught me more about myself and the world we all live in. Rome was my first and will always have a special place in my heart. I gained lifelong friends through the Rome Start program and it was the beginning of me expanding my global perspective. In Vietnam, I was pushed so far out of my comfort zone with a completely different culture, landscape, and food. But at the same time, I have never felt more alive than when I was zooming through Saigon on the back of a motorbike surrounded by what felt like all ten million residents at once. In Finland, I got to see where some of my ancestors came from and I got to experience the clean living of Northern Europe.