Before the Beginning

Susquehanna University is about an eight-hour drive from my home in Southern Maine. But it will take more than a car and eight hours to get me to school for the Fall 2015 semester. That’s because I will be spending my next semester in Budapest, Hungary as a part of the Susquehanna GO Program.




A cross-cultural experience is required for all Susquehanna students and many location options are available. As a naturally indecisive person, this availability made my decision rather difficult when it came to applying. There were several things that ended up helping me ultimately choose Budapest.



The Decision

Going into the process of choosing a location I had no idea what I wanted, but I eventually identified some key characteristics that I hoped to get from my experience. 



I wanted to go somewhere that few or no other SU students were likely to apply to isolate myself from familiarity, forcing me to branch out. I wanted to go to a country with a different language to immerse myself and (attempt) to learn some of it while having classes taught in English. And finally, I wanted the comfort of going back to a dorm room at the end of the day.




The Budapest program fit all of these with the bonus of being beautiful European city rich in history.

 

The Goals

Going into this semester, I have several things that I hope to accomplish. I want to shred some of my shyness, to learn some of the Hungarian language, and to immerse myself fully into Hungarian culture and traditions. I want to see the city and its history first-hand through the eyes of locals and professors and to strengthen my independence and ability to handle tough or stressful situations as they come up.




There are many things I want to do and to see and there may be some that I will miss but I hope that you follow me in the planning, learning, exploring, trekking, and reflecting on my semester in Budapest this Fall.