Hallstatt, Austria
My STEP signature project was a study abroad program in Salzburg, Austria during late May until late June of 2017. I took two classes on history and folk art customs from an Austrian perspective and learned an incredible amount about their culture and their ties with surrounding countries and the rest of the world.
A number of things changed about myself throughout this entire experience. My understanding of who I am and my position in the world was humbled, and being able to see everything I did (historical castles, different cities, incredibly structures) was eye-opening about the world and other cultures different than the one I was raised in. I realized how small I truly was, and how the world is such a unique place filled with different languages, races, ethnicities, and cultures that only enrich the experience of being alive. My assumptions on what study abroad was like, what Austria was like, and who I was drastically transformed and made me a more positive, responsible, and educated student; these experiences I can bring back to Ohio State with me.
My program was very independent and self-led, so what you put into it you got out of it. The classes were incredibly eye-opening to me, taught by Austrian and German professors. Not only did their different world views shine in on the information they were teaching, but the content of the classes themselves was much different material than I was used to learning, and taught in a much different way. I was not only able to see the way Austria valued education, but I was also able to experience it in addition to the content about Austrian culture and history that I was learning.
I was able to make friends with students from all over the United States in these classes; I now have friends from Mississippi, Tennessee, Nebraska, Oregon, Montana, and more. We were able to travel on the weekends, so I was able to go to ice caves in a mountain in Austria, a city in Germany, and canals in Italy. The opportunities felt unlimited.
One of the best experiences from my study abroad trip was the ability to attend a traditional Austrian Corpus Christi celebration. Many of the students wore traditional “tracht”, or dirndls and lederhosen, and we attended and participated in this parade that is the epitome of Austrian culture. Much of Austria is Catholic, and that is reflected in almost every aspect of their culture. It was so insightful and enabled me to really see what I had been learning about Austrian culture in person.
Because I am an international relations student at Ohio State, the opportunity to study abroad and experience a different culture in such a down-to-earth and first-person way has provided me with a new mindset and understanding of myself that I can use in both my classes and in my career in the future. International studies is such a diverse and dense field of study, so the insight that this experience has given me will aid me in being a better student and has provided even more of an interest to travel and study different places and cultures. I plan to become a foreign service officer for the United States, and this first toe-dip into the world and studying it is invaluable as I attempt to reach that goal.