By: Jolie Chene
Since I was a kid I’ve always felt something burning in me that wanted to see more than my city, Farmington Hills, MI.
Growing up my family traveled quite a bit as my mother wanted to visit all 50 states before she turned 50. She was able to accomplish this and my sister and I were able to travel alongside. Though as a child I always appreciated the experiences that I was able to join, however, I never fully appreciated the sights I was seeing, the miles I was traveling and the people I was meeting.
When I was in highschool, something in me just needed to get out of the city I was in, explore more than the few weeks that I was allotted out of school. Needing to see the world and experience other cultures. I moved to Mount Pleasant for school which gave me a change of scenery, but after two years I still felt like I was missing out on a lot of the world.
Sophomore year in college I found out about CMU’s study abroad program. I signed up to travel to the UK with a business class, as time went on I hadn't heard much but I figured it wasn't an issue until I met with my study abroad advisor and discovered there was a problem with my application and it did not go through. I wasn't going to be able to attend that class in the UK. Luckily I am not someone to give up, so this didn't stop me.
I worked diligently with my advisor for the next month finding other programs to solo travel to another country rather than going with a group. We found a program in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, a four week course for International Marketing. I got my applications quickly filled out and submitted before they closed. Later receiving an email that I was accepted.
Packing my things, hopping on an eight hour flight to a city where I knew not one person. The most excitement and joy I’ve ever felt in my life, the thrill of something new and the unknown. Living by myself for a month, going to school with people I've never met, meeting friends from America and The Netherlands. This was truly an experience that I will never forget. Something about that feeling for travel had just grown even bigger, the second I stepped foot back in America I wanted to go somewhere else again. That month I began researching places to intern abroad.
Searching country after country, I wanted to experience something new again. I loved Europe and the culture and really wanted to go back, but I felt like I needed to experience further while I was still in college. I applied for internships in Australia, accepted into two internships I decided on Neon Black, a small PR agency in Sydney.
Once again, packing my things, hopping on a 24 hour flight to a city where I knew not one person aside from my internship supervisor who interviewed me. The second most excitement and joy I’ve ever felt in my life, the thrill of something new and the unknown and for this time I’d be there for two months and more submerged into the culture and work life abroad. I worked nine to five, monday to friday each day learning more about PR and the Australian work culture, then saturday and sunday learning more about the everyday culture and the beautiful views to see and amazing people to meet.
Though both of these experiences were meant for me to learn and strengthen my education, they helped me grow as a person and set me on a path to find who I really am. Throwing myself into a new country head first not knowing if there's a net at the bottom. As I fell to the bottom I found there were so many amazing people on the other side to catch me, teach me and show me the way of their world and the beautiful friendships that can be made out of strangers.
So when the faculty of CMU asks me how much I learned from my class or what I got out of my internship, I always let them know I fulfilled my curriculum and enjoyed my experience. But at the end of the day I learned so much more than I could've ever imagined from the people and experiences. Returning to America, yet again with a fire and passion bigger than when I left and the memories of my friends and experiences that I’m not sure I'll ever meet again. So I reflect on my time, and I smile knowing that though I may never see them again, they've left a bigger impact on my life and future than I ever would have thought could come from a stranger on the other side of a far too long flight.