Hallo!
My name is Ashton McEntyre and I am a junior at Arkansas Tech. I am majoring in Cultural and Geospatial Studies with a minor in German. This semester I am going to be studying at Karl-Franzens Universität in Graz, Austria. I have been talking about studying abroad for a few years with my German professor, and I have conceptualized the idea of studying abroad to the point it doesn’t feel real, but as of today my plane is leaving in 2 days. With that I am feeling an array of emotions as the count down of hours until departure starts. I am SUPER excited, but also pretty nervous. This will be the longest I have ever been away from home, and getting out of your comfort zone is not easy, which I am slowly learning first-hand. I know that this experience will be worth all of the nerves, so I’m not too torn up about it.
Studying in Graz for an entire semester is a wonderful opportunity for my German language skills and for truly experiencing the rich culture that surrounds the area. This immersion experience will give me more than I could possibly imagine. This trip will open so many doors for me, and will teach me so many things. With my major we sit in a classroom talking about other cultures, trying to see things from a different perspective, so what better way to do that than actually living in a different cultural setting.
My bags still are not packed all they way, my room is a hot mess, and I feel like I’m missing something, even though I’m most likely not. It’s a stressful and exciting time here, but this is all part of the experience.
I’m going to go finish packing now!
All the best,
Ashton