2008 Woodie Awards
Discovering diversity
Students talk about their experiences studying abroad
Lori Schueler
Issue date: 10/11/07 Section: News
When junior Annie Laws said her final goodbye to about 30 friends she had met during the past two months, she looked around the room and noticed something unforgettable.
"It was like the whole world was in one apartment," Laws, a Spanish and biology for medical sciences major, said.
Laws spent two months studying abroad in Salamanca, Spain, over the summer, but got a taste of more than just the Spanish culture. While abroad, she met people from Iceland, Brazil, South Africa, China, Australia, France, Taiwan, Switzerland and many more countries.
At her going away party before she returned to the United States, she looked at her diverse group of friends and it changed her view of the world.
"Seeing everybody having a good time together makes me look at the world differently," Laws said. "When I look at a map and see different countries, I see the people I know who are from that country."
While in Spain, she attended a language school called don Quijote. Laws said the school had people from all over the world and she met someone from every continent.
"I learned more Spanish the first two weeks I was there than I did during high school," she said.
In addition to the intense learning, one of the hardest things for her to adjust to was the way other cultures greet each other: a kiss on the cheek.
"I felt like I was doing it wrong," Laws said. "Some people do two or some do one. You had to read what they were going to do next."
However, she said she ended up loving that custom, along with having siestas (Spanish for naps) each afternoon.
Senior French major Aaron Newcom studied abroad in Paris, France to help him learn the language a little bit better and to experience the culture.
"It helped me learn a lot of phrases you wouldn't think you would need to know, like ordering in a restaurant," Newcom said.
Besides improving his language skills, Newcom said he found common beliefs about the French to be untrue. He said Americans tend to have stereotypes about other countries and a lot of them are wrong.
"It was like the whole world was in one apartment," Laws, a Spanish and biology for medical sciences major, said.
Laws spent two months studying abroad in Salamanca, Spain, over the summer, but got a taste of more than just the Spanish culture. While abroad, she met people from Iceland, Brazil, South Africa, China, Australia, France, Taiwan, Switzerland and many more countries.
At her going away party before she returned to the United States, she looked at her diverse group of friends and it changed her view of the world.
"Seeing everybody having a good time together makes me look at the world differently," Laws said. "When I look at a map and see different countries, I see the people I know who are from that country."
While in Spain, she attended a language school called don Quijote. Laws said the school had people from all over the world and she met someone from every continent.
"I learned more Spanish the first two weeks I was there than I did during high school," she said.
In addition to the intense learning, one of the hardest things for her to adjust to was the way other cultures greet each other: a kiss on the cheek.
"I felt like I was doing it wrong," Laws said. "Some people do two or some do one. You had to read what they were going to do next."
However, she said she ended up loving that custom, along with having siestas (Spanish for naps) each afternoon.
Senior French major Aaron Newcom studied abroad in Paris, France to help him learn the language a little bit better and to experience the culture.
"It helped me learn a lot of phrases you wouldn't think you would need to know, like ordering in a restaurant," Newcom said.
Besides improving his language skills, Newcom said he found common beliefs about the French to be untrue. He said Americans tend to have stereotypes about other countries and a lot of them are wrong.
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