The University of Minnesota’s East Bank campus in Minneapolis is home to a multitude of fraternity and sorority houses along University Avenue and in Dinkytown, but the same can be said for the St. Paul campus. 

Greek life on the St. Paul campus consists of three fraternities: Delta Theta Sigma, FarmHouse and Alpha Gamma Rho, along with two sororities: Beta of Clovia and Lambda Delta Phi. 

For many members of these organizations, the smaller St. Paul community was what they needed in their Greek life experience. 

FarmHouse president Noah Erickson said growing up in rural Minnesota helped him connect with his fraternity brothers because many of them have had the same life experiences and morals. 

“I don’t even know if I would have finished my schooling at the U of M if it weren’t for my experiences in FarmHouse,” Erickson said. “Just because of the sense of community that it provided, especially for somebody who is from a town of a population of like 5,000 people.”

Erickson added that it is easy to get lost in the hustle and bustle of the Twin Cities campus, but being on the St. Paul campus feels like a small town with a tighter community. 

After seeing both her sisters join sororities on the St. Paul campus, Lambda Delta Phi Second Vice President and Recruitment Chair Elle Penzenstadler said she felt she could see herself thriving in her sorority. Moving into a leadership role helped her give back to her sorority before she graduated, she said. 

“You put yourself out there as a recruitment chair and just do all you can to try and get new members,” Penzenstadler said. “It’s been a lot of communication and just putting yourself out there and being vulnerable to meeting new people.”

According to Penzenstadler, Lambda Delta Phi was founded on the ideal of creating a home for women of all backgrounds. Although many in the sorority are College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences (CFANS) majors, there is a lot of diversity from other programs. 

“We’ll celebrate agriculture events as they come up and participate in them across campus,” Penzenstadler said, “But we don’t necessarily tie agriculture into our mission.” 

According to Natalie Beckendorf, many of the Greek houses in St. Paul, while open to everyone, attract a high number of CFANS majors. Beta of Clovia was founded on values derived from 4-H, a club serves youth in a wide variety of contexts and project areas, including but certainly not limited to clubs and agriculture.

Beckendorf, president of Beta of Clovia, said although the sorority is not 100% associated with 4-H anymore, their tie to agriculture and the clover logo builds off 4-H’s foundations. As a transfer student, Beckendorf said she never saw herself in a sorority until becoming involved in Beta of Clovia. 

“I don’t think I could ever have an experience where I can live in our house with a lot of different personalities, a lot of diverse backgrounds and interests and being able to learn from one another,” Beckendorf said. “It’s just an incredible opportunity and I do believe that it sets you up for success.” 

Similar to other experiences, Benjamin Styer, president of Alpha Gamma Rho, said he wanted to join his fraternity in hopes he would find people who shared his beliefs and values. As president, he added he has seen growth in himself and his brothers.

“It’s hard to comprehend sometimes how much growth we experienced in college until you start to reflect and think what your high school senior self was like,” Styer said. “Having a lot of autonomy here creates a lot of growth and a lot of strong relationships we’ve been able to build with each other.” 

As part of a smaller fraternity, Delta Theta Sigma, Samuel Verbrugge said he joined because he was having trouble connecting with people during his freshman year. As the current vice president, Verbrugge said he has become a figurehead for the house, meaning he feels the need to stay on top of academics and be outgoing. 

According to Verbrugge, recent lower enrollment rates for CFANS have made being a part of the St. Paul campus community important to him. 

“I found a bunch of down-to-earth guys that were kind of just trying to find their way in the world, and they were genuinely kind people,” Verbrugge said. “I realized that I wanted to be around them, so I joined the fraternity.”

This article has been updated.

On a sunny Saturday afternoon, guests at the Make the Magic gala arrived at the Bell Museum on the University of Minnesota’s St. Paul campus. 

Kesem, a nonprofit organization supporting children whose parents have cancer, hosts this gala to raise money for Camp Kesem — a four-day camp in August for those children. The camp is led by college students who provide them with a fun and welcoming environment, according to their website.

This year, through donations and games throughout the gala, Kesem raised $23,500 for their organization. The money will go towards making registration for Camp Kesem free of charge for families, according to Syndey Boyd, a third-year student and co-coordinator of the gala. 

Boyd added Camp Kesem is a place to connect kids going through similar experiences. 

“A lot of kids have talked to us about how when they are going to school, their school friends don’t understand what it’s like to have a parent with cancer,” Boyd said. “At Camp Kesem, everyone understands.” 

Boyd said she joined the organization after being a guest at a Make the Magic gala in her first year of college. After she immersed herself in Kesem’s culture she said she did not want to leave and decided to join.  

“It makes my problems feel so small and it’s beautiful to see these strong kids who are dealing with such a hard time, how resilient they are and how they can have a smile on their face even when they’re facing such adversity,” Boyd said. “Even outside of the campers, the community of Kesem are the nicest people I know.”

Devin Schmeck, a second-year student, joined Kesem last year and is now on the executive board as a volunteer coordinator. He said once he saw how big of an impact the Make the Magic gala was, he decided he wanted to make a difference for the kids.  

“At camp, there’s something called ‘Kesem magic,’ which you can’t feel until you’re there,” Schmeck said. “The community of being with kids that have gone through something so difficult, and they are the ones putting a smile on your face is what it’s all about.”

For Jason Hatcher and his family, Camp Kesem means a lot. Both of Hatcher’s daughters have participated in the camp, and he said it has been a part of their lives for many years. On Saturday night, Hatcher said he feels fortunate to be at the gala and a part of the event with everyone else. 

Hatcher said as a family impacted by cancer, Camp Kesem brought them joy in a time of a lot of pain. His family had the chance to connect with other families who are experiencing the same thing through Camp Kesem. 

“The mission of the organization is so genuine, in the sense that they bring a lot of joy to kids, and cancer is something that everybody has been impacted or knows somebody that has been impacted,” Hatcher said. “Contributing to the organization allows the joy to be given to other kids, it does impact their lives and it impacts the families that are supporting them as well.”

Throughout the night, speakers who have experienced Kesem talked about how meaningful the organization has been for them. As a new member of the organization this year, Josh Levine, a second-year student, has seen the impact firsthand that Kesem has had on families and members of Kesem alike. 

“This is my first year, so I haven’t gotten too much into it,” Levine said. “Just seeing how it has impacted everyone else in the group has been good to see.”

The University of Minnesota’s College of Design (CDES) partnered with Simpson Housing Services on Tuesday to make art for their Art 4 Shelter auction, which takes place May 3. 

Participants who stopped by painted and talked to Simpson Housing representatives about the cause. According to their website, the Art 4 Shelter event has auctioned art by local artists for 14 years.

All the proceeds from the sales go to Simpson Housing Services’ shelter and housing projects, benefiting those experiencing homelessness, according to their website.

Lilly Kuiken, a third-year University student majoring in product design, is a member of the CDES’s alumni board and helps plan events students and alumni can participate in. 

Kuiken said while past service events were incredibly important, they were not design or art-oriented. She added that it is exciting to see the events start to trend that way.

“It’s starting to get more in that direction with art,” Kuiken said. “The discipline of design is centered around improving users’ experiences or people’s lives in general. It can enhance everyone’s experience as a designer.”

Hoping to collaborate with Simpson Housing Services in the future, Kuiken said she has taken steps to strengthen the partnership between CDES and Simpson Housing Services. 

“The Art 4 Shelter event is a good step in a lasting partnership with Simpson Housing Services with the College of Design,” Kuiken said. “I talked with some of the folks at Simpson about other design projects that they would have that we could help with in the future.”

Katelyn Jaksha, lead volunteer coordinator at Simpson Housing Services, said it meant a lot to be at the event. She added that she is hopeful this partnership will continue to build relationships with students and lead to more events in the future. 

“It’s cool that we’re able to collaborate with this younger generation for people to both learn about Simpson and the social justice issues around housing,” Jaksha said. “As well as using people’s passions and the arts, to make those two things come together.”

Additionally, Jaksha said the free event on May 3 is a fun way to bring the community together for a good cause. 

Kiki Gerard, a third-year student, said she had not heard of the Art 4 Shelter event before sitting down and painting but wanted to support it once she knew the meaning behind it. 

“It’s a cool way to support the city and people in need,” Gerard said. “It’s a nice little break from studies, as well, to do a little mini art project.” 

Similar to Gerard, Kelly Kozlov, a third-year student, said she came to the event not knowing what Simpson Housing Services was. Her intentions going into the event were to support people in need while being creative. 

As a member of the Community Engagement Scholars Program, Kozlov said she is required to attend service events. This event in particular was an opportunity to obtain the requirements while also doing something she enjoys, she said. 

“I hope to connect with people on campus working towards helping the community,” Kozlov said. “We’re a big student body, and working together to do something for the wider community around us is super cool.” 

Since Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour stop at U.S. Bank Stadium last summer, her fans, called Swifties, at the University of Minnesota saw all too well a blank space missing for Swift-inspired student groups. 

Currently, there are two Swift fan groups on campus. One of them, UMN Swifties, was created at the beginning of the fall semester as a TikTok page where the group posted about friendship bracelets they had made before beginning to spread around campus. 

The other group, Swifties at the University of Minnesota, was started at the beginning of the spring semester as a registered student group. The organization has a board of officers, including President Tarun Balaji, a first-year student, and social media manager and internal relations officer Flannery Cotner, also a first-year student.  

Balaji said the two groups are negotiating to merge into one Swiftie group, and when they consolidate, the UMN Swiftie group will become part of the registered student organization.

Darice Fowler, a member of the UMN Swifties group, said one of the things she enjoys most about the group is the sense of community the group has created. Balaji and Cotner said they agree with this sentiment. 

Cotner said looking at student groups was a big part of her coming to the University, but not all of them matched what she wanted out of a student organization.

“A lot [of clubs] were student government-related or political stuff like that, and those are great,” Cotner said. “The cool thing about the Taylor Swift club is it’s just planning fun events where we listen to Taylor and talk about Taylor, it’s just a stress relief.”  

Fowler said because she has been listening to Swift since she was little, it has been fun to watch everyone else’s journeys with Swift and connect with others who have had the same experiences as her. 

“It’s been cool to see other people who kind of grew up with her, getting that space to just connect and become friends,” Fowler said. “Especially because a lot of us kind of have this shared experience of being fans back when we were little, and it wasn’t necessarily cool.” 

Cotner said she began listening to Swift as a kid, and since then, the music has had a constant presence in her life. 

“I remember going to the 1989 tour when I was 12 with my dad, and it was just the best night of my life,” Cotner said. “The fact that she’s such a girly girl, but she’s also a flaming feminist. She’s always been very genuine and honest about who she is as an artist and a person.”

Fowler credits the past summer as what she feels is a resurgence of nostalgia. With the “Barbie” movie releasing over the summer and the Eras Tour coming to Minneapolis, she thinks more people are embracing community and bonding over shared experiences. 

“This summer was really like leaning into loving things that we loved when we were kids, but loving it unapologetically,” Fowler said. “I think that was kind of the most special thing about the community that we were able to create.”

Although they are still uncertain about the future of both clubs, Balaji said he is hopeful for the future once they agree on the terms to merge clubs. He added the people within the club have helped everything fall into place.

“I’m just so thankful to have an amazing team by my side,” Balaji said. “They are the heart, soul and skeleton of this organization. They’re holding it all together.”

Balaji said Swift has impacted his life in ways that go beyond just the music. 

“Her origin story is so inspiring,” Balaji said. “How she stands for her values, and how she came back with ‘reputation.’ She’s made me believe that if she can reclaim her reputation, I can do anything.” 

While scoping out trips offered through the University of Minnesota’s Recreation and Wellness Center’s (RecWell) Center for Outdoor Adventure earlier this year, graduate student Vera Swanson said she hoped to find something to clear her mind from the stress of schoolwork.

Swanson participated in a trip with the Center for Outdoor Adventure the previous year, so she said deciding to take part in the backpacking trip to Paria Canyon, spanning from Utah to Arizona, over spring break was not a difficult decision.

In addition to offering backpacking trips, the Center for Outdoor Adventure has climbing, canoe, camp and cabin events as well as day clinics for climbing. These trips range from just a day to a weekend or even a week, and any University student can pay and register for a trip with friends or individually, according to the RecWell’s website.

As a graduate student, Swanson said she wishes she took advantage of opportunities to participate in a trip when she was an undergraduate.

“For people who even want something to do on a weekend or a day trip, definitely check them out,” Swanson said. “This is an amazing resource that the University has that is largely untapped.”

In preparing for the trip, Swanson said trip leaders Tate Schloesser and Lucy Lipscomb held a pre-trip meeting, which helped her feel equipped for it.

Lipscomb, a fourth-year University student, said that as a trip leader, she is responsible for preparing participants for the trip, but besides that, her job does not feel like one at all. This month, she is preparing to lead a canoeing trip in Buffalo River, Arkansas.

“Once you are able to kind of create the expectations for people, it just feels like you’re part of this group,” Lipscomb said. “You have more responsibility and maybe you’re keeping more logistical things in mind, but also what’s special is when the division between leader and like participant really isn’t anything at all.”

As a leader, Lipscomb said one of the most empowering experiences is helping people challenge themselves and learn from each other.

Lipscomb added that since becoming a part of the program, she has met people from a wide variety of backgrounds.

“On any given trip you can have people from all over the world, graduate students, or freshmen or a faculty member,” Lipscomb said. “Everyone brings this wide swath of experiences, and I’ve learned so much just from sitting around a fire and talking to these people who have lived such different lives than I have.”

Since his first year, Schloesser, a fourth-year University student, said he has been involved with the Center for Outdoor Adventure. Schloesser initially worked at the climbing wall, and in his second year, he started guiding climbing trips and eventually was enlisted as a full-time guide.

Schloesser said his desire to work outdoors started in high school, after a Boy Scout trip to New Mexico. Now, as a guide at the University, he is also a program assistant.

“I have to do a lot of behind-the-scenes work, so that’s a lot of participant communication, helping the program manager run the program,” Schloesser said. “Not only do we just accompany the participants on this experience, but we’re kind of the default folks when it comes to risk management for assessing the risks in the canyon.”

Finding the balance between enjoying the trip and leading can be tricky, but Schloesser said he would still be a trip leader even if it was not something he was getting paid for.

“At the end of the day, I find a lot of satisfaction in building community and bringing people together, whether or not I’m getting paid to do it,” Schloesser said. “Being paid and having it as a job is a unique benefit of my position.”

Bryan Karban, the program’s manager, said many participants gain a sense of community while on a trip. Being outside and going on adventures with people can quickly build a sense of community, Karban added.

“Sometimes that just lasts the duration of the trip, and I think that’s valuable, and sometimes people make lifelong friends with people on our trips,” Karban said. “It’s a valuable social environment on the trip itself, but it’s also a place where people are meeting new friends.”

Along with a sense of community, Karban said the trips allow for a break from the stressors of everyday life.

“It can be kind of a good break or departure from the stressors of everyday life to go and spend time in these beautiful natural environments,” Karban said.

Correction: A previous version of this article misstated the name of the organization. It is called the Center for Outdoor Adventure.

For typical Bachelor of Arts students in the University of Minnesota’s College of Liberal Arts (CLA), completing language courses is required to graduate, but for students majoring in a language, it is much more than just a requirement.

The University offers 26 language programs, according to CLA’s website. Some of these include European language studies like French, German and Italian, while the Asian and Middle Eastern Studies program (AMES) allows students to study Arabic, Chinese, Hmong, Japanese and more. 

Harun Mousa, a third-year student majoring in geographical information systems and AMES with an emphasis on Arabic, said the language is vital to him in many ways. 

“I’ve always wanted to study the Arabic language. It is a crucial part of my life religiously and personally,” Mousa said. “Being Muslim, our holy book, the Quran, is in Arabic. It’s essential that I know what it means, and I can connect to it at that level.” 

When deciding to double major, Mousa said he saw the benefits of participating in both a scientific and a humanities program. 

“It’s best to know the best of both worlds, especially with languages,” Mousa said. “A language is very, very useful. Any skill you have, if you add a language on top of that, that means your job opportunities just explode.”   

Nicole Moberg, a first-year student majoring in linguistics and AMES with an emphasis in Arabic, said since she lived in Saudi Arabia for several years, she has wanted to continue studying the language. 

Moberg said Arabic is a “very logical language” and is interesting to learn because of its history and literary connections, which often are not discussed in the United States. 

Moberg added her major allows her to build on the Arabic she already learned and strengthen her relationships with the people she met while living in Saudi Arabia. 

“It also opened another window in my mind because I speak Spanish as well, and it was a much faster process to learn it,” Moberg said. “Having to learn Arabic has made my brain work, and it makes me think in different ways.” 

Rachel Runzheimer, a fourth-year student majoring in Spanish studies and bioproducts and biosystems engineering, is currently studying abroad in Argentina. While abroad, she said she has been able to put her language skills to the test. 

“Being abroad, I’ve seen how much it helps to be able to speak the language when you’re in a new place or communicating with people,” Runzheimer said. “I think also in the U.S., there’s a lot of Spanish speakers, which is kind of why I originally wanted to study the language to communicate with them as well.” 

Runzheimer added the Spanish studies program provides her with the ability to narrow her studies down to a niche because of its different tracks and focus areas, with linguistics being her focus area. 

“I feel like as I’ve been learning Spanish and improving Spanish, I’ve also really gotten a good grasp of the basics of linguistics. I get to study two things at once,” Runzheimer said.

Like Mousa, AMES second-year student Libby Nemitz said she chose to focus her studies on Chinese because she has a special connection to the language. Along with AMES, Nemitz is also majoring in global studies. 

“It’s kind of like a personal choice for me because I’m adopted from China, but I didn’t grow up speaking the language,” Nemitz said. “I wanted to learn, and also because learning Chinese has a lot of job opportunities, especially international relations, so it worked well together.” 

Language courses can be intense, but Nemitz said she utilizes campus resources and classmates to help practice outside class. As a student ambassador of the Chinese Flagship program, Nemitz encourages those interested to join the program. 

“My program is well-funded by federal dollars,” Nemitz said. “If anyone’s struggling to pay for college, learning the language and adding a language program can be a great opportunity.”

As Rebecca Cunningham prepares to step into the University of Minnesota’s presidential role this summer, student government groups are getting ready for change. 

The University’s Undergraduate Student Government (USG), Council of Graduate Students (COGS) and Student Senate are working to bring student voices to University administration and the Board of Regents. 

USG’s Representatives to the Board of Regents, Niko Vasilopoulos and Ebba Wako, sat in on each presidential candidate’s interview with the Board of Regents. From the beginning, Vasilopoulos said he thought Cunningham stood out as a qualified candidate. 

“Once I began hearing her ideas for the University, I could tell that she is very passionate, very qualified, and I think she’ll do a great job,” Vasilopoulos said. 

Vasilopoulos said the transition from Interim President Jeff Ettinger to Cunningham is crucial for students and student leaders.  

​​”When a new president comes in, we now have an opportunity to reset expectations, to outline how we want our interactions to be and what priority students have,” Vasilopoulos said. “I’m hopeful that Dr. Cunningham stepping into this role will allow a lot of student voices to be brought into her decisions.”

Jacob Richter, a student senate member, said he hopes Cunningham will take student advocacy seriously. He added that some of the things he would most like to see during Cunningham’s tenure include getting an on-campus grocery store to address food insecurity students face and creating a policy that guarantees more student representatives on future presidential search committees.

“Of course, there were some student members at the presidential search committee, but it was never in writing and was never guaranteed, and that is something that we would also like to see going forward,” Richter said.

As the co-chair of the Public Safety Working Group, Richter said they are currently looking to address the issue of sexual assault and rape on campus. 

“That is an issue that does not get much exposure at all,” Richter said. ”There is an alarming amount of sexual crimes that happen on campus residential halls, and I am hoping that’s something President Cunningham will be able to address, as it looks like she’s worked in that field in the past at the University of Michigan.”

COGS member Chase Krug said he wants Cunningham to aim for increased student input on how student fees are allotted for student issues and needs. As a graduate student himself, he added he wants to see more advocacy for issues affecting graduate students.

“I want to make sure graduate students’ issues are addressed,” Krug said. “That could be how different regulations affecting graduate students have impacted our work, and those types of issues.” 

Krug said he is hopeful Cunningham will be more present on campus. Like Vasilopoulos, he added that he hopes Cunningham engages more with student government organizations. 

“I hope that she engages with the registered student government organizations and Student Senate on various issues that we want to bring to administration, and have a partner in her that she can take our concerns,” Krug said. “We can collaborate in different ways and have a really good working relationship.” 

Wako said he is hopeful Cunningham will help expand the University and strengthen relationships between administration and students. He added he likes Cunningham’s fit with the University given her “experience with research and innovation” and that the University is a “big research school,” and he hopes she can expand the University’s funding for research.

Wako said he hopes there is transparency in decisions that affect students. He said he believes students need more explanation as to why certain decisions get made.  

“Representatives can do only so much,” Wako said. “It’s really important to be able to hear from the source itself, and from the people that we are hoping make the best decisions for us.”

Following a successful year, the University of Minnesota’s Solar Vehicle Project (SVP) faces its newest challenge: what comes next. 

Most recently, the SVP team traveled to Australia in October with their current car, Gaia, and took second in the 2023 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge. 

Gaia is the 15th car since SVP’s inception in 1990, and Director of Engineering Joel Roberts said it took about three years to build. The team plans to race in the American Solar Challenge this summer after modifying and swapping out some of Gaia’s parts. 

Roberts said because the American and World Solar Challenges are slightly different, some parts need to be changed on the car to meet the regulations for the race.  

The team recently started plans for their next car and while SVP cannot currently give many details, they are testing new ideas such as motor designs, a lighter base and minor details to help long term. The team wants to improve on past years and continue to be successful with the new car, according to Roberts. 

“We’ve been around for 34 years, and these are the best results we’ve ever got,” Roberts said. “The team is in a good place. Now we’re like, ‘How can we bring this across the finish line? How do we get the best car in the world?’” 

While engineering is a component of SVP, there is also an operations side of the project. Director of Operations Harry Mahmic said while the team has many engineering subgroups, they recently established a set of subgroups for marketing, finance and event planning. 

“We’re looking for new, better strategies for working with sponsors,” Mahmic said. “Giving them opportunities to work with the team on research projects, different kinds of funding and donations.” 

Mahmic said he sees SVP as a small engineering firm because of the scale of the project and it gives a sense of how things might look in a future career. 

“Communication and learning how things get done is an accurate replica and simulation of what kind of work you’re going to do once you graduate,” Mahmic said. “It’s just a lot of fun and also describes the experience for after graduation.”

Although the team is open to all majors, it is a College of Science and Engineering student group with a considerable percentage of engineering majors, according to Roberts. He added hands-on experience is crucial for those who want to pursue a career in engineering. 

“It’s an opportunity to apply what you’re learning in class. So it’s not just the theory,” Roberts said. “The team gives an opportunity to apply that to a real-life problem, to design something real, build something real and see the success of that product, and that experience is hard to get.” 

As a member of the electrical subteam and motor design team, Jack Vogel said he understands the advantages of getting hands-on experience. He added designing a solar-powered car brings unique challenges where one decision could make things difficult for the rest of the team. 

“We have discussions on whether we are going to do four-wheel drive or two-wheel drive or what type of motor because there are all kinds of different types of motors,” Vogel said. “If we do two-wheel drive, it’s easier to wire it because we only need two motor controllers. If we do four-wheel drive, it gets a lot more complicated for all the other subsystems, but makes it easier for us to design it.”

Vogel said for their future car, they plan on fixing issues related to the car’s function and changing the wiring to make it run smoother. The team is determined to make the car as close to the industry standard as possible. 

“We try to mimic the way they do things in a certain way so that we’re not just winging it,” Vogel said. “There is typically a reason they do things that way in the industry.” 

Stepping out of her shared flat and into the brisk London air, Maria Heinzen began her walk to the Westminster Archives Centre, taking in all the city has to offer. 

An everyday walk for Heinzen includes seeing Big Ben and the London Eye, two landmarks she said are surreal to see in real life. In the last stretch of Heinzen’s commute, she gazes at Westminster Abbey, taking in its ornate columns, then finally heads down the street to her internship at the City of Westminster Archives. 

Heinzen, a second-year student studying English and developmental psychology, is currently in London as a part of the University’s study and internship abroad program. Along with taking classes, Heinzen takes the half-hour trek to her internship, where she works 20 hours a week. 

Although it can be plenty to handle, Heinzen said she got lucky.

“My internship is incredibly flexible, and they work with me with everything,” Heinzen said. “I haven’t felt a lot of struggle, honestly, because I want to go to work. I enjoy it.” 

With a tight-knit community of coworkers, she said she has the hands-on experience she sought in an internship abroad. Aside from gaining skills, she set goals for herself in the workplace. 

In her internship, Heinzen preserves marriage documents, death certificates and other historical documents.

“It’s a very intimate space and experience. I feel like my voice is heard and not overshadowed,” Heinzen said. “It’s taught me a lot about how to work in a team with these people, how to take initiative, and how to work with materials that need to be conserved and are very delicate.”

Heinzen said her experience abroad is somewhat unique. On top of the internship, she is taking 15 class credits, many of which intend to aid students in understanding London’s heritage. 

“The classes are very integrated with London culture,” Heinzen said. “There’s a lot of field studies so a class will go out and do something and talk about it, like going to a museum or walking by the river.” 

Like Heinzen, Zoe Hoornbeek, a fourth-year student, said she made the most of her time abroad. While in Madrid, Spain, Hoornbeek interned at a therapy institute where she trained as a psychology major by shadowing a professional therapist.

“I got direct experience working with patients with mental health diagnoses and other lived experiences, people who wanted cognitive behavioral therapy, that they did all in Spanish,” Hoornbeek said. “It’s important to note I did not have any Spanish knowledge before going there, so I was able to also learn Spanish.”

As an intern, Hoornbeek said the most difficult part of the experience was finding time to visit patients, but everyone she worked with knew her situation and helped her create a flexible schedule.  

“A lot of the patients wanted sessions after work, or at lunch, as that’s when people aren’t working,” Hoornbeek said. “So that contradicts with when I wanted to have my free time, but other than that it was very flexible.”

Hornbeek said staying with her host family was a key component of her time abroad. Since she stayed with them, she got to see more of the country and feel at home in a foreign place. 

“I chose a host family just to be more integrated with the culture,” Hoornbeek said. “It was a very welcoming environment, and they took me on weekend outings and they took me to their place up north which was cool too.”

Varun Sarathy participated in the study and internship abroad program in Barcelona, Spain, in 2021 and graduated last year. Although there were strict COVID-19 procedures in 2021, Sarathy said he made the most of his semester abroad. 

“Spain was a great country to go to because there’s so much diversity throughout the country,” Sarathy said. “I was able to get a lot more of an in-depth perspective on Spain by traveling to more places within it.”

While in Barcelona, Sarathy interned with a marketing and sales company. He said interning there helped him understand the cultural differences when working with people from different countries, which helped, in the long run, with his future career. 

“They heavily emphasize that in our internships, that’s something that we’ll bring back and it’s just the ability to place yourself or understand that you’re working in a different culture,” Sarathy said. 

While working and taking classes, Sarathy added that he also had the chance to discover what tropical destinations Spain had to offer. He said one of his favorite memories was taking a trip to the small town of Tenerife to hike and explore.

Not every internship is a perfect match, according to Zach Kunkel, a third-year student who completed a similar internship to Hoornbeek, in Madrid. His tasks also included shadowing a therapist and speaking Spanish to patients.

“I would say overall a good experience. I liked the guy that I shadowed. He was good about talking to me afterward being like, ‘Hey, here’s kind of what I was doing,’” Kunkel said. “The main difficult part was that everyone was talking in Spanish, so it was a little harder to understand things.” 

Kunkel said with so many expectations from the program leaders, the cultural differences and the language barrier, it was tough to balance everything. Regardless, he gained a better grasp of himself and how to deal with his independence in a new country. 

“I think it improved my self-confidence and my ability to just have faith and trust that I can do things,” Kunkel said.  

Speaking from personal experience, Learning Abroad Center Director of Programs Zach Mohs knows that studying abroad can be a lot to balance. As a kid, Mohs lived in Japan and England for three years and later studied abroad in South Africa for a semester during his time as an undergraduate student. 

Mohs said an internship provides students exposure to their field of interest and assists in deciding whether their chosen path is right for them. 

“Often students think of that as this wasn’t a good experience because I decided I didn’t want to do it,” Mohs said. “That’s way better than graduating, taking a job, and then deciding this isn’t for me.” 

With several programs to choose from, students may not know where to begin when choosing an abroad program, according to Mohs. 

“If students are considering it, come talk to us if there’s questions or concerns, come talk to us,” Mohs said. “Studying abroad, in general, can sound daunting. Doing it can sound daunting, but the benefits far outweigh any concerns if someone is considering it.”