For most people, their college years are the best time for them to go abroad because it is a perfect time in someone’s life to discover a new culture while gaining college credits.
Universities like the University of Memphis have programs that help financially and provide students with multiple options concerning what countries they can travel too and what curriculum they can learn while overseas.
The UofM’s journalism department is currently running an exchange program with students from the University of Mainz in Germany. Katharina Kleine-Waechter is one of the Journalism Department's exchange students and is now in her third semester of graduate school. When this semester is over, she will return to Mainz to finish her final semester and graduate.
“Professor Otis Sanford came to Mainz last summer, and did a class on diversity in journalism,” Kleine-Waechter said. “He told us about Memphis, about the history of Memphis, how it’s interlocked with the Civil Rights Movement, and the history of America and I was hooked. He was absolutely great.”
After speaking to Sanford, Kleine-Waechter said she made up her mind on coming to America for class.
“I was like, I have to go there. I have to see this for myself,” Kleine-Waechter said.
This summer, Assistant Professor and Advisor for the UofM Journalism and strategic media, Robby Byrd Ph.D., is accompanying UofM journalism students to Mainz this summer for the second time.
“I went in 2017 with two students. I’m hoping to take five or six with me this May,” Byrd said.
Byrd also said that life on campus for UofM students is similar to life on campus in Mainz. They live in the dorm rooms, and they get to experience everything the University of Mainz campus has to offer.
UofM Study Abroad advisor, Elizabeth Langston, said that the UofM offers a lot of opportunities to study abroad to earn all kinds of credit hours along with a lot of places around the world to study abroad.
“It’s a very individual experience. Some students feel uncomfortable with not understanding, experience immediate culture shock,” Langston said. “For others, it takes a few months to experience culture shock when they realize that it’s kind of frustrating not being able to express what they need.”
Stinne Vognaes is a Danish student that is attending college in Finland. She is currently in the last semester of her school’s master’s program. However, her decision to take a semester here at the UofM will most likely result in her having to take an extra semester on her return to Finland. She described her situation as a “bit messy.”
“I was kind of curious about Memphis because I found about Martin Luther King, the Civil Rights Museum, and the history,” Vognaes said.
Vognaes tried to visit the Civil Rights Museum on Martin Luther King Day, but the line was so long and was horrible. She has not been to see the museum yet; however, she intends to plan a visit to the museum. She said that it was at the top of her list.
Vognaes said she is enjoying her classes at the UofM, especially her civic engagement class. Vognaes said she enjoys the class discussions about community engagement and talking about how people engage in society, which are things she is really passionate about.
“I like that we are having a real discussion in the classroom,” Vognaes said.
Vognaes explained that there is not as much discussion in her classes in Finland, and she likes having a discussion about a topic rather than a professor lecturing for an hour like her classes in Finland.
