Why did you decide to study abroad with USAC in Lüneburg?
Sarah: It’s always been a goal of mine to learn German, but my high school did not offer German language courses, and courses at my university are limited. I knew that studying abroad would be the perfect and really only way for me to learn German, and I wanted to be completely immersed in the language and culture. Also as an International Business major, I knew having experience in Germany could open up a lot of opportunities to me in the future. Since I was already planning to study abroad with USAC in France in the fall, it was not difficult for me to expand my time abroad to include Germany as well. The USAC staff was extremely helpful and made it really easy and stress-free to do both programs back-to-back.
How has this experience impacted your future?
Sarah: Even though I decided to study International Business before I went abroad, I think studying abroad has really helped direct and solidify my future academic and career plans. I would never have considered continuing my studies overseas if I hadn’t already lived and studied abroad, nor would I have considered eventually working abroad. Additionally, I know the experience really impacted me personally in more ways than one. For example, I’m much more adventurous and outgoing now, and I made dozens of lifelong friends who live across the country or on the other side of the world. I feel like the world has truly opened up for me, and I think I will have a lot of opportunities in the future that I would never have otherwise.
Any interesting cultural tidbits you noticed about your country?
Sarah: Germans are really environmentally conscious and extremely particular when it comes to recycling. They throw almost nothing away and if you’re not used to that it can be tricky figuring out all of the various recycling rules. Also, Germans tend to respect rules and structure. For example, you shouldn’t ever cross a street against a red light in Germany, even if there are no cars around. Germans will wait until it’s green. If you don’t, they may shout at you, which happened several times to my friends and me while we were abroad.
If you could do-over one thing, what would it be?
Sarah: As much as I’d love to relive the entire semester, I think I’d like to go back and be a lot braver with my newfound language skills. I didn’t practice speaking German nearly as much as I know I could and should have. I was actually pretty good when it came to speaking with locals, but as soon as the necessity to speak German was gone, so was my will to practice. I think also because I was an absolute beginner I made excuses to myself that I didn’t know enough to sign up for a language partner, or go a whole day without English, or even practice with my friends, and that really just wasn’t true. Even practicing the bare basics would have helped me a lot. If I could go back, it would be to talk, talk, and talk some more!