CES Newsletter

Fall 2014

Table of contents

CES News

Programmes and courses page 2

Happy news at CES page 4

Recent & upcoming trips page 8

Visitors page 14

CES Events

21 Japanese students in Maastricht page 18

Field trip to Roda soccer stadium page 22

Bob’s study abroad videos page 24

Students’ impressions – favourite photos page 28

Teacher’s column page 36

Course highlight page 40

A European love story page 42

Maastricht at this time of year page 46

CES alumni – where are they now? page 54

CES Info page 56

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OPEN ENROLMENT PROGRAMMES AND COURSES:

DO YOU WANT TO COME TO MAASTRICHT IN SPRING 2015

FOR THE SEMESTER OF YOUR DREAMS?

THEN HEAD STRAIGHT TO OUR WEBSITE TO APPLY FOR

ONE OF OUR SEMESTER PROGRAMME; APPLICATIONS

CLOSE SOON!

SPRING 2015 OPEN ENROLMENT PROGRAMMES:

1. Business & Economics in Europe

2. European History, Culture & Arts

3. European Politics, Law & International Relations

4. Psychology & Neuroscience in Europe

5. Public Health & Medicine in Europe

APPLICATION DEADLINE

SPRING 2015 SEMESTER:

OCTOBER 31, 2014

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HAPPY NEWS AT CES:

The CES team is growing!

Three wonderful people have joined our team since the beginning of the year:

Fabienne Loomans Dominique Meyers Kim Willems

Secretary Programme Coordinator Programme Coordinator

We are delighted to have them with us; they are a true asset to our company with their

energy and enthusiasm, their constant smiles, and their dedication to making our students’

time in Maastricht the best ever.

The CES ‘junior team’ is also expanding:

With the birth of their little Aurora, Nathalie and her husband Atticus now

have a family of 5. Laura ’s family is also about to grow: they are expecting

a little girl very soon. And our new colleague Kim just became a dad for

the very first time! Kim and his wife Ana are the proud parents of a little

boy named Nacho.

CES lecturer Jennifer Sellin obtained her PhD on 19 June 2014 by defending her

dissertation entitled “Access to Medicines – The Interface of Patents and Human Rights.

Does One Size Fit all?”. To learn more about the topic of her research watch this short video

made by Maastricht University’s Law faculty where Jennifer explains it all.

We are very proud to have yet another one of our professors reach this milestone;

congratulations Jennifer!

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We are delighted to announce the publication of the book Leadership for Social

Justice in Higher Education – The Legacy of the Ford

Foundation International Fellowship Program edited by Terance

Bigalke and Mary Zurbuchen.

Jorg de Vette, Director of CES, co-wrote chapter 4 which deals with ‘Creating University

Partnerships as Pathways for Student Achievement’.

Thanks to the Ford Foundation Fellowship Program, CES welcomed more than 100

students from all around the world over the years. It was an honour to spend time with

each and every single one of these amazing individuals and we are very proud to have

been able to contribute to their studies and future careers.

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This book examines how the Ford Foundation

International Fellowships Program, the world's

largest private fellowship program in higher

education, has succeeded in fostering social

justice leadership over the past ten years. Top

scholars from Asia Pacific, Latin America, the US,

Africa, and Europe inquire into the program's

development, implementation, and outcomes in

their regions. They analyze the program's

background, its effects on institutions, its effects

on students' learning environments, and how

well changes toward social justice worked.

Through in-depth studies of leadership,

diversity, social inclusion, and social justice in

regional context, this book provides a wealth of

comparative information on social justice in

higher education worldwide.

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2011

2008

2007 2006

2005

2009

2010

2004

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RECENT TRIPS:

Turn the page to find out about Maaike and Dario’s recent trips to the US.

UPCOMING / CURRENT TRIP:

Jorg de Vette, Director of CES, is currently traveling to Illinois, Misouri and Indiana from

October 18th – 24th, 2014.

During his time in the US he will visit the following locations:

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Saint Louis University

Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis

Illinois State University

Valparaiso University

He will be attending study abroad fairs, meeting with current and prospective partners

and catching up with CES alumni.

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Maaike’s 2014 US trip

University of

San Francisco

Study abroad

fair

With CES alumni Annie,

Krista and Thomas and

former grad assistants

Wendy and David.

With Lexi English

and a baby goat.

:-)

With CES alumni

Steven at the PSU

study abroad fair. Catching up with CES

alumni and former CES

interns Caitlin & Courtney

Dario’s 2014 US trip

Xavier Study

Abroad Fair

CNU study abroad fair

With Caitlin and

Alyssa, CES alumni

from LVC

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VISITORS:

We were delighted to welcome many guests in Maastricht over the past few months.

Here they are, in chronological order:

- Autumn Beechler, Study Abroad Advisor at Case Western Reserve University

(Cleveland, OH)

- Kim Diehl de Yanes, Study Abroad Advisor at Xavier University (Cincinnati, OH)

- Jane Cody, Associate Dean for Academic Programs at the University of Southern

California (Los Angeles, CA)

- Annabel Davis, Student Coordinator at AIM Overseas (Sydney, Australia)

- David Cleeton, Professor of Economics and Chair of the Department of Economics at

Illinois State University (Normal, IL)

- Adriane van Gils-Pierce, Director of Study Abroad/Study Away Programs at Clark

University (Worcester, MA) together with her son Christian.

Annabel Davis, Jorg de Vette, and

Maaike van Eck in front of

Maastricht University’s Student

Services Center.

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CES

EVENTS

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CES Events – 21 Japanese students at CES

We were thrilled to welcome a big group of students from Meiji

Gakuin University in Maastricht this Summer. Ryuichi Goto, one

of them, tells us about his experience at CES and in Europe in

general.

TEXT: Ryuichi Goto

PHOTOGRAPHY: Summer 2014 Meiji Gakuin students

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Ryuichi Goto studies at the Faculty of International Studies

at Meiji Gakuin University in Japan. He spent 3 weeks in

Maastricht this Summer, taking part in our Meiji Gakuin in

Maastricht programme.

When my friends and I were accepted to study at Maastricht University this Summer,

before we actually arrived in the Netherlands, our knowledge about Maastricht and the

Netherlands, or even of Europe, was very limited.

Yes, we knew that Maastricht is the city where the EU treaty was signed, and that the

Netherlands is well-known for its soft drugs and Red Light District, or historically, that it

was the only European nation allowed to trade with Japan during the Shogunate

governance. But overall, our point of view about Europe was rather narrow and poor.

Now that we are back in Japan after the Summer I can safely say that our knowledge

about Europe was enriched through our learning at Maastricht University.

During our time in

Maastricht, thanks to the fact that it is

the oldest Roman city in the Netherlands

and because it is geographically close to

so many other European nations, we

could see with our eyes and feel with our

full bodies that Maastricht is culturally

diverse. Also, through our field

trip to Antwerp in Belgium

and our individually-planned

short weekend trips to

London, Luxembourg,

Cologne, Amsterdam, or

Brussels we got to see how

amazingly rich and diverse

European culture is .

Learning at Maastricht University felt

very new and fresh for us. Through our

education in Japan we got used to

American English while in Maastricht we

got to experience

British English through

our English class. The

method of teaching

was also new to us:

in Japan traditional

language education

in middle school or

high school is very

old-fashioned and

passive. It was

therefore

different for all of

us to have a group discussion during the

class or for the instructor to encourage

students to express their own opinion.

Our European history and art

class was also question-

based and students were

continuously thinking, which

was greatly different from

the traditional Japanese

lecture style. It was great that we

didn’t spend the entire class writing what

is on the board and listening to what the

professor is lecturing about, but

answering the professor’s questions and

thinking about the idea of what is Europe

all together.

We really appreciated this teaching style

and we felt that this greatly contributed

to our learning at Maastricht University

this Summer.

Left: the whole group during their field trip to Antwerp with their European Culture,

History & Art professor, Herman Simissen.

Above: after a group dinner on the Market square in Maastricht with CES coordinator Kim

Willems.

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CES Events – Field-trip to Roda soccer stadium

My name is Stephen Sroka; I am originally from Gladstone, New Jersey

but I study accounting and anthropology at Muhlenberg College in Allentown,

Pennsylvania. I am also a member of the college’s cross-country team in the

Fall, and the track-and-field team in the winter and spring. This semester I am

in Maastricht with the Muhlenberg in Maastricht programme.

TEXT: Stephen Sroka

PHOTOGRAPHY: Roda JC

Recently, my entrepreneurship class and I went on a

study trip to the Roda JC soccer stadium in nearby

Kerkrade. Our professor, Mark Bertrand, who is also a

member of the Roda JC CSR-board, organised the trip.

Prior to going on this field trip, my

class and I had been studying the many

aspects of CSR, or corporate social

responsibility, and how it can maximize

a business’s performance and

profitability. Equipped with this knowledge, we

embarked on our trip, eagerly waiting to see how Roda

JC incorporates CSR into their business model. Once we

arrived at the stadium, Yara Keulers, a Roda JC

associate, greeted us. Yara took us on a very extensive

tour of the stadium where we were able to see the home

team’s locker room, the away team’s locker room, and

the referee’s locker room. After that, we were invited to

step out onto the pitch of the stadium where we took

pictures with our professor as well as the stadium itself.

Once we felt we had taken enough photographs, Yara

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escorted us up to the business section of the stadium where we saw various luxury boxes

owned by different companies. We were also invited to see the press box, and the room

used for post-game interviews. Yara concluded the tour with a short presentation of her

own describing how Roda JC incorporates CSR into their business model. She explained

the many types of events that Roda JC sponsors, like youth soccer camps and bringing

the elderly to the stadium to watch a game. After Yara’s presentation, we were given

time to eat dinner at the stadium’s restaurant. After dinner, we watched Roda JC play

PSV to a 1-1 draw. The conclusion of the game marked the conclusion of our study trip,

and we returned back to Maastricht. After speaking with my classmates, we all felt

that the study trip was extremely enjoyable and enlightening. We were

able to see how the concepts we studied in class

could be applied to a real world example, while also

experiencing the excitement of a Dutch soccer game.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUs0jkhxKxQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUs0jkhxKxQ

TEXT: Bob Neel

PHOTOGRAPHY: Screenshots from Bob’s videos

My name is Bob Neel, I am originally from Denver, Colorado, and I

am in my third-year at Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts. At

Amherst I study Political Science and Religion. At Maastricht University I

take part in the European Law, Politics & International Relations

programme and I predominantly study at the Faculty of Arts and Social

Sciences.

Click here to watch Bob’s study abroad video updates on YouTube:

#1: Maastricht, Netherlands & Bruges, Belgium

#2: Amsterdam & Zaandam, Netherlands

#3: London, Brussels & Zwolle

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I started making short videos my first year of college as birthday gifts for my friends. I

really loved combining visuals, acting, music, and often dance into one product to make

people smile. During my time living in the Amherst College Arts House my sophomore

year, I continued to make videos for various clubs and events on campus. While

preparing to leave for my semester abroad this fall some of my friends suggested that I

post videos while I was in Europe to help illustrate my overseas adventures. So, instead

of writing the obligatory “Study Abroad Blog”, I decided to keep in touch with my family

and friends through video montages. These videos provide me with the

ability to not only give my friends and family a sense of what I

am doing abroad, but also to actually show them my various

European shenanigans. Perhaps most importantly, I hope that my fellow

Maastricht peers and I can use these videos as reminiscing agents far after we leave the

friendly confines of the Netherlands. As of now I have completed three instalments,

depicting many of our CES adventures and extracurricular activities. However, I am sure

there will many more to come.

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We asked some of our Summer 2014 students to send us their

favourite photo from their stay in Maastricht.

Here are their fun pictures and stories.

TEXT: Summer 2014 CES students

PHOTOGRAPHY: Summer 2014 CES students

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"The Central and Eastern European Study Tour really broadened my

knowledge and understanding about cultures I otherwise might have neglected to

explore. It also emboldened me to travel and explore Eastern Europe more fully in the

future."

Alex Almquist

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Summer programme in European

Studies 2014

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"While in Maastricht we were provided with so many great and fun opportunities each

day. One event that became a weekly routine was our Monday night Dutch trivia at

Peter's Irish Pub! Everyone gathered in teams of five and took on the trivia with as much

confidence as we could pull together. The eight rounds were exciting and brutal. The

winners won champagne and the losers won a wooden spoon, and I can proudly say my

team, team Kitty Kat, won the wooden spoon with dignity! I looked forward to

every Monday night and I loved throwing myself into the

culture and I will keep my wooden spoon forever!"

Samantha Crew

Christopher Newport University, Summer programme in European Studies 2014

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“Here is my favorite picture from the trip. This is from the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna,

Austria. This is my favorite picture because it is of most of the Eastern Europe Study Tour

group. I like it because these people became my really good friends

during our time together. On top of that, this picture is a great reminder of all the

amazing places we got to travel to this summer. Spending the Summer in Europe gave

me so many great memories, and this was just one of them.”

Eric Pohle

The Pennsylvania State University, Summer programme in European Studies

2014

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“While studying abroad, I turned 21 and was lucky enough to travel and to have great

people around me to celebrate. That weekend I had the opportunity to travel to

Barcelona, Spain where I had the best birthday weekend that I will

never forget. We had a wonderful time sightseeing, eating tapas, drinking the

infamous sangria and playing on the beach. Barcelona was one of the most beautiful

cities I have ever seen and I cannot wait to have another opportunity to see it again.”

Kathryn Vu

Christopher Newport University, Summer programme in European Studies 2014

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“On our first weekend in Europe, a group of us took a day trip to Amsterdam to watch a

Netherlands football match from the World Cup. There was a huge screen set up in the

Museum Square where thousands of Dutch fans met to watch the game. After buying a

Holland scarf and painting our faces, we all went to cheer on the Orange

to a win . It was a great first experience in the Netherlands and made me truly love

the country from the start!”

Katherine Wagaman

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Summer programme in European

Studies 2014

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“A good portion of our time with Maastricht University was spent traveling both on the

study tour and on our own. Over the past six weeks, we have visited a ton of different

places and met people from all over the world . During our time in

Budapest, a group of us ate dinner along the Danube River and enjoyed the food and the

view. The most important thing I will take away with me from my time in Maastricht and

on our study tour are the memories I made with everyone in the programme and the

friendships we formed.”

Arti Patel

The Pennsylvania State University, Summer programme in European Studies 2014

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CES Events – Positive Psychology symposium

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CES

TEACHER’S

COLUMN

Get to know more about one of our wonderful and dedicated teachers in each of our

newsletters!

This time Karl Syndram tells us about the great

classes he teaches our students.

TEXT: Karl Syndram

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Since I started teaching at CES I have

truly enjoyed the unique atmosphere,

combining academic endeavour with…

fun! The fun of studying and the fun of

teaching.

I find it amazing how students from

countries all over the globe manage to

make good use of the opportunity to

travel extensively throughout Europe and

still take their studies seriously.

Actually I consider travelling being kind

of a hidden part of their assignment. To

experience otherness in terms of

countries, cultures and geographic

regions, personally and on site, not only

broadens the horizon, it leads inevitably

to inspiring experiences and makes

people and places, previously only

known by secondary sources, feel less

‘foreign’.

The contributions and discussions in my

classes benefit enormously from these

conditions and habits. I like the

curiosity of the students I

have at CES as much as I

value their readiness to join

me on literary journeys to

explore the cultural

landscapes of Europe.

I am especially interested in the

interrelations between fiction and

reality, where literature reflects

history, politics, communities, and

gives evidence of the presence of the

past that shapes in many ways the

future.

At CES I have the opportunity to offer

and teach quite unusual classes, where

the teaching material is not limited to

the usual spectrum of canonized Poetry,

Prose and Drama, but also includes other

media, movies and field trips.

Under the title ‘The Roaring Twenties,

Nazi Terrors and the Cold War’, one of

my classes concentrates on European

experiences and the ways these are

reflected in literature. It is a text-based

journey starting at the end of World War

I and ending in the 1980s when the

atomic age with its threats and

confrontations was still very much felt.

The choice of sources here includes

literary fiction, together with journalistic

articles and movies, focusing on US

American experiences and authors like

Hemingway and Gertrude Stein,

combined with accounts by native

Europeans. Main criteria for the choice of

material were the quality and

authenticity of depiction. A field trip to

sites and monuments of the decisive

Battle of Bulge during the last chapters

of WWII, directly relates the geographic

stage of events to the literary forms of

perception discussed in class.

Karl Syndram and his class

during a ‘Battle of the Bulge’

day-trip.

Recently I started teaching ‘Going Dutch’, a class concentrating on ‘Literary reflections of

the Low Countries’, as indicated in the subtitle. The main focus is on Dutch and Belgian

literature in the 19th and 20th century, related to culture and politics. But the so-called

‘Golden Age’ of the 17th century, the times of Rembrandt and Vermeer, and the fights for

independence against Spain and the Habsburgian Empire, feature with prime authors like

Vondel and are historically referenced in many ways. A representative collection of the

first league of Dutch and Flemish authors is discussed based on significant text examples

written by them. In addition the letters of Van Gogh give insight into the artist’s mind

and allow for a discussion about the connections between visual arts and literary

depictions. In relation to popular culture the topic is investigated further in having a

closer look at famous Belgian comics, such as Tintin and Asterix. The experiences of Nazi

occupation and World War II are reflected in a movie (Winter in Wartime based on a

famous novel by Jan Terlouw) as well as in narrative masterworks by Belgian Hugo Claus

and Dutch Harry Mulisch.

The centerpiece of the class is provided by an excursion to

Bruges, an architectural masterpiece, related not only to

visual arts but also to literature. As the ‘Venice of the North’ and a capital

of Decadence, the city features almost like a main character in Georges Rodenbach’s

novel Bruges-la-Morte and The Death Throes of Towns, often regarded as ‘the’ symbolist

novel.

And the picturesque village of Damme nearby is the major scene for de Coster’s historical

depiction of the Flemish fight for freedom against the king of Spain in Tyl Ulenspiegel.

The day trip visits both sites, but concentrates on Bruges, with a boat tour on the famous

canals and a chocolate tasting (as a symbolic hommage to the topic of ‘decadence’). Also

there is enough to time to explore the literary and cultural landscape of this town

individually, being the living stage for drama in fiction and historical reality.

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UM course highlight

Stephanie DeClue : I am from New Canaan, CT in the

United States and I am a sophomore earning my bachelor’s

degree at Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts. I am

majoring in Law, Jurisprudence, and Social Thought. I studied

at Maastricht University in July through the CES’s Summer

Programme in European Studies.

“The European Union: Peace, Conflict and Human Rights is a comprehensive course that

explores global issues through a European lens. The course focuses on the European

Union’s policy responses to contemporary social, political and economic issues. While

examining the European Union’s policy regarding problems such as human trafficking and

illegal migration, students acquire a deeper understanding of the EU’s structure and the

bodies that it encompasses.

The course differed from any that I have taken at Amherst due to the unique field trip

opportunities that it affords its students. During the three-week duration

of the course, I was able to visit the European Commission in

Brussels, Belgium and attend an international human rights

conference with my professor, Dr. Tamara Lewis. Visiting the

institutions that the course examined was a fantastic experience and being able to study

with professor Lewis, who specializes in international human rights research in Dublin,

was an exceptional opportunity.

The European Union: Peace, Conflict and Human Rights is interactive and engaging,

placing students in the role of EU policy advisors and lawyers in a moot court. The course

pushes students to think outside of their domestic framework and instead teaches them

how to analyze international issues from a truly global perspective. “

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My class visiting the European Commission.

A European love story

It’s always a pleasure for us to stay in touch with students and

academics after their time at CES.

We love keeping up with everyone’s further studies, first jobs,

their moves to exciting corners of the world… and of course,

we’re super fond of love stories!

Sarah Heelan, a graduate assistant from Baylor University who

guided groups of students at CES in Maastricht during two

Summers has a story that’s so sweet we couldn’t resist sharing

it with you.

TEXT: Sarah Heelan

PHOTOGRAPHY: Heidi Lynn, Aude Frost & Sarah Heelan

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I can remember reading about

“European romances” ever since I was a

little girl. Stories about the American,

travelling in Europe, who happens to

meet a European and have a whirlwind

romance at ancient castles and over

historic cobblestones that she would

never have had if she had chosen to stay

in boring, young America.

Those romances, however, were

definitely not why I went to Europe.

After a few summers working in London,

I fell in love with going

abroad. I planned and led high school

trips to England. I worked for a year as

an au pair in Oslo, Norway. But the most

gratifying, most rich, and most

wonderful trips were the two summers I

spent in Maastricht as the teaching

assistant for the Baylor Study Abroad

programme. Europe meant work, and

independence. The Global Eurail Pass I

was given each summer in Maastricht

was like a bar of pure gold, at least in its

importance to me.

The first summer I visited over

twenty countries during my

free travel time and fell in love

with a bright and bustling Dutch city

during the weekdays. I took classes

about Dutch art and imagined I was

living in those paintings as I spent free

time biking as far as my legs could push.

Nary a night went by that I was not

dragging a group of Baylor students on a

“quick” bike ride (that usually turned into

a two or three hour trip) into Belgium

farmland or along the Albertkanaal.

Absent a willing student, I would ride by

myself, going each night just a teensy

bit further in order to see something

new.

The second summer provided just as

much opportunity to explore Maastricht

and its surroundings, and I even had the

ability to show students around with the

joy and delight of one returning to a

place she knows. Yet this second

summer also put me on the path for my

third visit, this past August, where I

dragged my new husband throughout

the city pointing out all the places I had

spent time, eaten this, studied that; put

him on a bike and raced him along the

Albertkanaal into Belgium and back

along the Maas itself, smiling with glee

the whole way that I was able to share

with him the place I loved so much for

many reasons, but mainly because it was

where I was living when I met him.

While eating lunch at a little café that second summer, a dear

friend asked me why I could not stop smiling. I told her the story

of meeting a man, an American soldier stationed

in Germany, on a train in Copenhagen . I told her

how we had been the only two people in first class with no seat,

so had ended up sitting together in the doorway of an ICE train

and talking for eight hours; how because of a delayed train we

ended up having two hours to wander Hamburg together; how I

actually missed this man when we said goodbye; how he hugged

me for so long I actually said, “Now we’re just hugging for a long time.” I told her all this

and more in a torrent of words that should have caused anyone’s ears to melt.

She smiled and laughed with me throughout the story and insinuated that I must like him

a lot. She suggested that I might have a new romance going. I assured her that I did

not; it was just my “European adventure” and I was leaving in two weeks anyways. It

would all just be a good story. But, that night, and every night that week, he messaged

me and we talked for hours. The next morning, and all subsequent days that week, I

found myself standing in her office chattering away about our conversations. She listened

with great patience and encouraged me to try and see him once more. For this reason, I

said yes when he invited himself on a camping trip in Freiburg and Munich that weekend.

The next time I raced into her office I was able to exclaim that I had a boyfriend! A real,

live boyfriend! Her laughter was contagious and set the tone for the relationship that

resulted in a two year, long distance courtship. Although my husband and I had less than

sixty days in the same space throughout our entire dating relationship, on July 5 of this

year we met at a little church in Richmond, Virginia, to be married. The next day we were

on a plane back to Germany and a whole new stage of life began. Maastricht was the first

place we visited as a married couple, even before our honeymoon. I may love

Europe because of the independence and travel opportunities

it provided for me; but in the end, Europe will be remembered

more because of the European romance I lived for real .”

Sarah Heelan attended Grove City College for an undergraduate degree in

Political Science. She worked on Capitol Hill and as an executive assistant to two

different CEOs before moving to Texas to earn a Master’s Degree in History at

Baylor University. Since graduating from Baylor, Sarah has worked at two different

classical schools teaching Latin, History, Literature, and Geography. Currently she

lives in Memphis, TN, and is learning how to be a wife and homemaker.

45

Maastricht is perfect for bike rides across the countryside at this time of year.

Chloe, one of our Fall 2014 Public Health & Medicine in Europe students, did exactly that

with a group of her fellow CES students. Here are her beautiful pictures.

Photos: Chloe Dudick

Chloe Dudick: I grew up in Breckenridge, Colorado, a small

mountain town. I study biology at the University of Denver, and

am spending the first semester of my junior year in Maastricht,

the Netherlands.

Maastricht at this time of year

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CES alumni – where are they now?

Caitlin Murphy was a student at CES in our LVC in Maastricht

programme in the Summer of 2010. She came back in 2011 for an

internship and has held a special place in our hearts ever since. How

could we not love her: she is the one who introduced the whole CES team

to s ’mores – can you believe we had never had them before?!

She is now Associate Director of Global Education at Lebanon Valley

College and has agreed to share her wonderful story with us.

$3,500. A number that could be

construed as a large amount of money

for a poor struggling college?

To many students perhaps this is the

case. For me, I thought the investment

was worth it, but as I look at my decision

now, it was the most educated and

successful choice I had made in college,

and it all started spring of my sophomore

year.

With that money, I became richer and

without making that purchase, I really

worry where I would currently be?

Discovering Europe, gaining confidence,

learning navigational and budgeting

skills, securing an internship, getting

admitted into a top 10 programme in

graduate school, envisioning a new

career dream, building on international

connections, making life-long friends,

landing my first-full time job and more.

The list undoubtedly continues and will

only continue with time. This list is

priceless and to think that one $3,500

programme fee is what redirected my

journey towards personal, cultural, and

professional ends? The programme fee I

paid at the time for my summer study

abroad in the Netherlands has served me

well beyond my time as a student with

the Center for European Studies. It was

not only the most economical financial

transaction I have ever made, but its

yields are timeless. To be more specific

about my enthusiasm, I must say

that I attribute all of my

life’s successes since 2010

to my study abroad

experience with CES. During this

experience, I learned I could successfully

travel and survive in a new place, make

new friends, cook new foods, and

36 38 50 54

question old assumptions. At CES, I took

a course on Intercultural Communication

which truly fascinated me. I returned

from this experience and added an

International Studies major to my

degree. I needed to refocus my

perspective and continue the

conversations that started that summer

in Holland.

During my junior year of college, I was

trying to fully make sense of my

experience. I was looking for ways to get

overseas again but to also gain work

experience. I spoke with CES and was

selected as one of their first CES Interns

for the summer. This was my first

international work experience let alone

another summer of transformation for

me personally and professionally but

later I would find out just how crucial

that would be in my graduate school

applications, senior research, personal

growth, and future career.

After college, I moved to American

University in Washington D.C., where I

studied International Communications at

the School of International Service. My

focus was solely influenced from the

coursework I took at CES. Throughout

my Master’s degree, I continued to think

back to my international education

experience and took many courses in

this field. I even secured internships that

would only build on the skills I gained as

a summer intern with CES.

For my last semester of graduate school,

I decided to study abroad again, because

the

experience

for me in college was

too significant to pass

up. Although I was in

Norway this time, I

could relate with all

my fellow classmates

who were rendering

their first experience

abroad, and making

sense of who they

were now in this new

place with new eyes. I

came to realize that this

could be my career focus. When an

opportunity to return to my alma mater

at Lebanon Valley College (LVC) came

up, I quickly accepted.

Currently I help to support international

and study abroad students at LVC. I like

to make sure that our international and

exchange students are fully supported

and are being taken care of like CES took

care of me years ago. Now I help

promote the Maastricht programme,

which has nearly tripled in size since my

time. I am so fortunate for my study

abroad experience with CES and will do

everything in my power to convince

future students to take the leap of faith

& pay the small programme fee. Because

in the end, I can guarantee you that you

will only end up richer than before you

left.

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SPRING 2015 AT CES

January 3 – January 24 Open Enrolment Programmes

International Environmental Law

International Relations & Politics in the EU

Positive Psychology

January 9 – 23: Dutch Culture and Language (University of California)

January 16 – June 6: Open Enrolment Programmes

Business & Economics in Europe

European History, Culture & Arts

European Politics, Law & International Relations

Psychology & Neuroscience in Europe

Public Health & Medicine in Europe

January 17 – June 7: IU-UNC programme

January 24 – April 23: Baylor in Maastricht (Spring)

March: European Management Residency in Entrepreneurship

and Business for Benedictine College Executive MBA

CES Info

56

Mailing address

Maastricht University

Student Services Centre | SSC

Center for European Studies | CES

PO Box 616

6200 MD Maastricht The Netherlands

Visiting address

Maastricht University

Student Services Centre | SSC

Center for European Studies | CES

Bonnefantenstraat 2

6211 KL Maastricht

The Netherlands

Phone: +31 (0) 43 388 5282 Email: ces.info@maastrichtuniversity.nl

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