Student Blogs
Several of our “Hawks abroad” are keeping blogs this year, and we invite you to visit their pages to get a taste of what living and studying in a foreign country is like. Doing so will help you understand the wonderfully complex process of adapting to a new culture and learning how to navigate a new world.
These student blogs are unedited and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Office for Study Abroad or the University of Iowa.
Argentina
Rachael Todt spent the 2007-08 academic year studying Spanish, History, and International Relations at the Universidad del Salvador in Buenos Aires , Argentina through ISEP (the International Student Exchange Program). Her love of Spanish developed during a summer at the Regents Hispanic Institute in Valladolid, Spain, in 2006.
Though it would have been more straightforward to spend a year there March - December on the local academic calendar, Rachel arrived in August 2007 and profited from a long break January through March before completing her second semester and returning to Iowa in July 2008. She majored in International Studies and also obtained an International Business Certificate. She is currently living and working in London for South Bank University's international office.
http://rachaeltodt.blogspot.com/
Australia
Jack Kligerman is a senior from Highland Park, IL, who spent spring 2009 at the University of Newcastle through the Iowa Regents Semester in Australia program. He is majoring in History and Journalism, with a special interest in how people in Australia intepret international news events, in particular those that involve the United States.
http://newcastlejack.blogspot.com/
Max Crowley is a junior Finance major who studied at the University of Newcastle through the Regents Semester in Australia program spring 2008.
http://maxcrowley.blogspot.com/
Brazil
Brett Johnson received a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship to spend 2008 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil studying Brazilian history and geography at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais. He studied abroad in Spain and Brazil as an undergraduate, and was an Office for Study Abroad peer adviser from 2005 – 2007.
http://brettinbrazil.blogspot.com/
Chile
NEW! Peter Tomka is spending the 2009-10 academic year in Valparaiso, Chile through a program offerd by CIEE. He's concentrating on his Spanish major requirements while abroad. His blog emphasizes the visual aspects of living in Latin America.
http://peter-tomka.blogspot.com/
Emily Lemke majored in Performing Arts Entrepreneurship and studied at the Universidad Andres Bello in Santiago through the USAC Spanish & Latin American Studies program. She is from Champlin, MN and graduated in May 2008. It is my last semester of college, and I am really happy to be abroad. I am doing so many things that I never would have had the opportunity to do without this program. Santiago is nothing like what I expected! But I love it here!
http://emilyinsantiago.blogspot.com
Juliana Khouri studied in Santiago, Chile for fall 2008 through CIEE. She is from Cedar Rapids, and is majoring in Spanish and Secondary Education, with an English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) endorsement. Juliana's take on studying abroad:
Studying abroad is an intense experience. You are really pushed to your limits, and come out much stronger and with a much greater understanding of yourself and the world around you.
http://jkstudyabroad.blogspot.com
Katrina Christenson studied in Valparaiso, Chile through CIEE last fall and lived with a Chilean host family. When she wasn't in class, she was busy with outdoor sports -- hiking, climbing, camping, hydrospeeding (think boogie board in a rapids wearing flippers and a helmut).
http://katrina-christenson.blogspot.com/
France
New! Karina Schroeder is studying at the Universite de Franche-Comte in Besancon, France for the 2009-10 academic year. She is a Journalism and Anthropology double-major from Dubuque, IA, who is also pursing a minor in French.
http://mylifeinbesancon.blogspot.com/
Ghana
NEW! Kristina McLaughlin is a junior from Cedar Rapids, IA majoring in Political Science and Economics with minors in International Studies and Geoscience and is studying at the University of Ghana through the USAC program this fall.
http://mysemesteringhana.blogspot.com/
Greece
Ashley Wistrom is a senior from Sacramento, California majoring in Ancient Civilizations at Iowa. She spent the 2008-09 academic year in Athens, Greece on the study abroad program "College Year in Athens."
http://puella-sui-generis.blogspot.com/
Ireland
Grace Sippy is a junior pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in the UI's School of Art & Art History with a focus in Printmaking. During spring 2009 she studied at the Burren College of Art in County Clare, on Ireland's rugged western coast. The school is very small, only 20-40 students per semester! However, with that comes a studio space and special tutor attention for each student.
Alyssa Thomas studied as a sophomore at University College Cork through the Regents Semester in Ireland program during spring 2008. She is from Cedar Rapids and majoring in English with a minor in Education.
http://irishforasemester.blogspot.com/
Mimi Nguyen is a junior English & Communication Studies major from Westminster, California who studied at the National University of Ireland Galway through Arcadia University during spring 2008.
http://internationalmimi.blogspot.com/
Italy
Paul Nowacki is a UI senior from Northbrook, Illinois who studed in Florence during fall 2008. He is a psychology major, and in addition to a social psych class, he took art history, drawing, and wine tasting classes, as well as beginner's Italian. (Sorry, no credit for the wine-tasting class!)
http://paulnowacki.blogspot.com/
Bianca Pucci, from Simi Valley, CA, was in Siena during spring 2009 taking classes through IES Abroad. She is majoring in Business, and is considering adding a second major, Italian Studies. Bianca writes, " I think Siena is the perfect place to study the culture and language. It is the perfect home away from home rather than a big city like Florence or Rome. "
http://web.me.com/biancapucci/Site_3/Biancas_Life_Abroad/Biancas_Life_Abroad.html
Japan
NEW! Marc Hill, currently doing an internship with Intrax Intern Abroad in Tokyo, Japan, is working in a business management and logistics position with Sangikyo Corporation , an international IT and network systems consulting company that specializes in optimization of operations in the wireless communications and software industry. When he's not working, he's soaking up life in Japan and writing about it!
http://intraxinternmarcjapan.wordpress.com/
Korea
Nikki Guarino spent a year teaching English in Korea through a Fulbright scholarship. Then she was hired by Fulbright to work in their Seoul office. She previously studied abroad in Ireland on the Irish Writing Program, and she did her student teaching for her Math Education degree in Co. Donegal.
Nikki's blog requires that you be added to her list of readers. Just send her a note and she'll add you.
Drew Soloski also taught in Korea through the Fulbright program. He studied for a year in China on two Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) programs – CIEE Nanjing fall semester followed by CIEE Beijing spring semester. Drew was an Office for Study Abroad peer adviser during the 06-07 academic year. He is currently enrolled in a master's program at the University of Hong Kong. He has a taste for Korean kimchi potato pancakes!
Spain
Kelly Hepner is a junior from Chicago majoring in Journalism and English. She was in Barcelona during spring 2009 on the IES Barcelona program, taking some classes that count toward her English requirements.
http://barcelona-blog.blogspot.com/
Aubree Miller is a former Office for Study Abroad employee who studied in Spain as an undergraduate and has returned to work as a Language & Culture Assistant at a secondary school near Seville. While at the Office for Study Abroad, she advised students interested in studying in Spain and also worked with foreign exchange students.
http://aubreedenise.blogspot.com/
Emily Varn studied in Palma de Mallorca, Spain from the 2008-09 academic year through CIEE. She is from Des Moines, and is majoring in Spanish and International Studies with a Latin American studies emphasis. She has previously spent a summer studying Spanish in Mexico.
http://emilyvarn.blogspot.com
South Africa
Zane Scott-Tunkin is a senior majoring in History, Social Studies, and Education. He participated on the KwaZulu-Natal Exchange program in Durban during spring 2008. Zane is planning to pursue student teaching abroad in the fall of 2009. After graduation in December 2009, he contemplates taking up residence abroad, the Peace Corps, or traveling before graduate school. Zane has already decided that he must make it back to South Africa, many, many times.
http://zanetravels.blogspot.com
United Kingdom
NEW! Michael Blackmon is spending the 2009-10 academic year at the University of Birmingham in England on our U.K. exchange program. He is a junior majoring in English and in Cinema & Comparative Literature. Michael is from Mt. Pleasant, IA.
http://bumblingaroundbirmingham.blogspot.com/
Ned McCully is a senoir from Mt. Prospect, IL, majoring in English/creative writing who studied at the University of Edinburgh during spring 2009 through the Iowa Regents Semester in Scotland program. He enjoyed art museums, hiking to the top of Arthur's Seat, going on ghost-tours of Edinburgh, and getting out of town.
http://nedinburgh.blogspot.com/
Bayle Larpenteur is a senior majoring in History from Ankeny, Iowa. She spent spring 2008 enrolled at Strathclyde University in Glasgow, Scotland on the UK Exchange Program.
http://bayletravelseurope.blogspot.com/
Kevin Hawley is a senior Finance major from Geneva, Illinois, who attended Lancaster University in England during spring 2008 on the UK Exchange Program.