I can’t believe the time has come! In less than a week I will be boarding a plane to study abroad in Europe… for five months!! Growing up in rural Ohio, I unfortunately was not exposed to a broad range of cultural diversity. My family always joked that our trips to Canada were our way of experiencing “Europe” since a trip to Europe did not seem to be a card that would be dealt to our family. That deck of cards changed for me when I was a junior in high school. My Latin teacher proposed a trip to take his seven Latin students to Italy and Greece, so we could learn more about the Ancient Roman Empire. This trip changed my life because it sparked my desire for international learning and travel. When I was a senior in high school prowling the internet for my future college, I came upon the University of Richmond. One thing that I loved about Richmond was their focus on international education. The school strives to not only bring international students to America, but also give UR students a chance to go to another country. That was one of many reasons I choose to go to Richmond.
Now as a junior here at the University of Richmond I am proud to say I am taking full advantage of Richmond’s international education program. Some of the first students I met and befriended here were from India, England, and beyond. This upcoming semester I get to take part in Richmond’s incredible study abroad program. My destination will be Budapest, Hungary!
One of the main questions everyone has is “why Budapest”? Budapest is definitely not the most common study abroad destination, but since I was a freshman I knew I wanted to study abroad there. For starters, I LOVE Hungarian food! My great-grandma was Hungarian and with her came all of her wonderful recipes that are stilled used with my family. Second, Budapest is beautiful! Many tourists refer to Budapest as the “Paris of the East” because of the city’s breathtaking sites and views. And lastly, I want to learn a lot of math in Budapest. You read that right! I am going to Budapest for a math and computer science program. One branch of mathematics I am interested in is graph theory. I won’t go into all the details of what that is, BUT it just so happens that almost every graph theorist is Hungarian. While I am at this program I will be able to learn about graph theory from the people who basically invented it! So as you can see, Budapest is perfect for me. It will provide pleasure for my stomach, beauty for my eyes, and curiosity for my brain… Can you really get better than that?!
But for now, my life consists of just three things: packing, planning, and preparing. Be on the lookout for an update on my arrival to Budapest!
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