If you’re looking for a
story of a fairytale dream trip, where the path before you is always sprinkled
with magical wishing dust, then this isn’t for you.
My name is Joe Wocken,
and I’m a part of the University Studies Abroad Consortium (USAC) Lueneburg,
Germany program. So far, I’m a week and a half into the program and it’s
nothing like what I thought it would be, and it’s vastly different from any
CSB/SJU trip I’ve ever heard of. Some 50 of us program participants were given
about a day of orientation, then pushed from the nest like baby birds. We have
basic levels of support from the staff here, but for the most part, we are on
our own. With this kind of independence, it’s been up to me to meet people,
find my way around, and settle in to a whole different lifestyle. So far, it’s
been extremely rewarding!
Here, I have to work to
be successful. I’ve met Germans, Russians, Spaniards, Peruvians, Brazilians,
Americans, and Texans. I’m not here to be sheltered; I’m here to live life.
