GAB Studio

I have never been out of the United States. While I love it here, there is so much I want to see! I have never experienced being immersed in another culture. As a marketing major who wants to work in international sport marketing or management, this is a wonderful experience that will undoubtedly contribute to my personal toolkit of skills.  This experience will give me the chance to learn about myself personally, academically, and professionally. These skills and experiences are beyond my comprehension right now but most importantly, studying abroad will allow me to see first-hand how different everyone in the world is and how much I can learn from different cultures. I have lived in Georgia my whole life and I feel as though my view of the world is incredibly narrow and naïve. Studying abroad will help broaden that view.

I attended an incredibly diverse high school.  I believe that exposure aided my ability to accept and understand various world views, but I was still within the relatively clean bubble of Atlanta. Even just a few miles outside of the city, people are so different. I can’t imagine how different it will be an ocean away! Studying abroad will allow me to begin experiencing the world and learn about new people and their cultures.

My dream job is to work with the Olympics. Going to Vienna, a place surrounded by different cultures, will give me so much insight to how wide the world is. Not only am I going to be a few hundred miles away from the hub of the Olympic movement in Lausanne, Switzerland, I will be at a school with hundreds of other exchange students and will learn about all of their cultures as well.

Once I return home, these new skills and experiences will give me a world view in my marketing and sport management classes that others may not have. The study abroad experience will add educational value, but will also enhance the learning experience of others around me.  I had so many wonderful, different kinds of conversations with the exchange students in high school. I hope to share that same experience with my fellow UGA students. 

I believe that Vienna is simply my perfect fit. There are so many opportunities for me to grow personally. I know the academic and professional advantages but I am most excited for the discoveries and moments of personal growth that will transform my life when I return to the states. Vienna is a hub of culture I look forward to exploring and falling in love with.

See you in the fall.