Study abroad and study away experiences

Polishing My French
by Corey Crews-Williams

I spent the week following the end of the semester in Paris, France for a short-term French studies course at Language Studies International. While here, I developed my French comprehension skills and learned about French history and culture.

Studying French in Paris was an important experience to me because I was able to improve upon my reading, speaking, and listening skills. I’ve been studying French on and off since high school and am now at the point where I want to become fluent for professional endeavors. I was studying independently throughout the fall semester and so this experience helped to polish the skills I’ve gained thus far. The French language is spoken in various regions of West Africa and this is where I would like to work post-graduation.

My academic studies have laid the foundation for my understanding of why language and cultural immersion is critical to project development in the engineering space. In class, I can apply the language and interpersonal skills I’ve gained while abroad.

An overarching theme I was able to learn more about from the experience was cultural awareness. One way to improve in this aspect is by being immersed in a location that isn’t native as I did by going to France. Language and breaking down barriers of communication for the purpose of better integrating cultural values into project development is the long-term goal. In addition to this, I gained a plethora of interpersonal skills that are applicable to professional endeavors post-graduation. Engineers are known for their lack of soft skills and this has negative impacts on how we interact with clients. By gaining such skills in a new environment, there are many more avenues of opportunity I can pursue.

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Brought Together Ethnicities Through Design
by John Montefour

I studied abroad in Barcelona, Spain. I studied for six weeks with about fifteen other classmates, learning about the urban landscape and architecture, and the impact it has on those who inhabit and travel to the area. Much of my time spent in Spain revolved around a design project, however I had many opportunities to explore the city, as well as spend time in other areas of the region.

This experience gave me a new outlook on my work at Penn State. Being able to travel abroad as a student is an amazing experience alone but studying worldly issues that I may impact one day was so much more rewarding. The impacts I made thus far are small, but their ripples are growing. We were given a real-world design problem, which gave me the ability to speak with many people in Barcelona about the issue, as well as study real context around the issue and the area of Barcelona. I became quite involved with this stage of my studies, which ultimately allowed me to create a strong relationship with the people of Barcelona.

Currently at Penn State I study some of the same problems I examined while in Barcelona. However, the dynamic nature of the design problems is not nearly as complex as the issues I faced while abroad. Nonetheless, my courses have begun to train me for a more important and impactful design problem that I faced in Spain. Design changes constantly, but there are certain parameters that create successful spaces for people to enjoy. My classes have given me that framework so that I may use it to create my own solutions to current design issues.

The most important thing I learned with my experience is that I have the ability to unite people from different backgrounds and ethnicities through design. Although people are different, they may share similar experiences. Being a landscape architect provides me the opportunity to give people that similar experience. My time in Barcelona will play a huge role in my future design career. Seeing how so many different people interact gave me life-changing experience that I will remember and consider in the work that I will do for the rest of my life.

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