Flashback to Study Abroad
Study abroad has been a formative experience for so many members of the Carnegie Mellon University community. We want to celebrate those memories! This page contains study abroad flashback stories from Carnegie Mellon community members. Check out some "vintage" photos to get a glimpse at how study abroad looked in years past.
Want to submit your flashback photos? Email goabroad@andrew.cmu.edu
Chris Menand (Associate Director of OIE for Study Abroad)
Chris's Story
I studied abroad in Russia in 1990 and 1992. The first image was taken in May 1992, during a fun weekend visit to a camp outside of St. Petersburg. (The city had recently returned to its original name, after being named Leningrad from 1924-1991). When they learned I was a clarinetist, I was handed a clarinet and asked to join the band! They then struck up, “When the saints go marching in”. I was a bit shy to play, though joined anyway, and am so glad I did. Was a wonderful immersive experience, and an enjoyable weekend outside of the city!
The second photo was taken in June 1992. I lived both times with a wonderful family. Here I am with my host mother, Nadia, during an outing in Moscow.
Erin Swift (Assistant Director of Study Abroad)
Erin's Story
I studied abroad in Rosario, Argentina in 2009, during my final year of college. I lived with a young Argentinian family of four: Manuel, Carolina, and their children Tomy and Tiago. I spent my mornings in classes, my afternoons at the pool with Caro and the kids, and my evenings socializing at home for hours before eating a late dinner. The group picture was taken on Caro’s birthday with all the grandparents present. I’ve stayed in touch with my family in Rosario, and visited them most recently in 2016. It was like no time had passed at all. Just like the old days, we spent most of our time together at the pool and enjoying meals, this time with much older adolescent versions of Tomy and Tiago.
Jaycie King (Assistant Director of Study Abroad)
Jaycie's Story
I studied abroad in Salamanca, Spain in 2005, during my junior year in college. As a Spanish major, I chose to live with a host family, and was matched with my señora (host mother), Clemen. I had four other housemates – two from Spain, one from Japan, and one from the United States – and always looked forward to our conversations during meals, squeezed around a tiny table in Clemen’s kitchen. She made the most delicious ‘tortilla de patatas,’ and I asked if she would walk me through the recipe before I returned to the U.S. We made it together for one of our last dinners as a group. It’s still something I cook at home, and I think she would be proud!
Jaycie's Story (cont.)
One weekend, some friends and I decided to take a bus to a village my host mother recommended, Aldeadávila de la Ribera, to hike for the day. When we got back to the bus station, exhausted, we learned that the schedule had changed and there were no more buses leaving town that night! Most everything was already closed for the day, but we managed to buy some food at a tiny convenience store and ended up having to stay overnight despite not having anything packed. The unexpected experience made for a great story and ended up being one of my favorite memories during my time abroad.
Tess Thrower (Study Abroad Advisor)
Tess's Story
In 2011 I had my first study abroad and international experience! I spent a semester abroad in Limerick, Ireland, which is a small city about three hours outside of Dublin, Ireland. The university I studied at was the University of Limerick (UL) and it was one of the greatest semesters of my life! My study abroad experience was so special to me because not only did I get to explore Ireland and other European countries (the photo taken on the dock is of me over spring break in Venice, Italy and the second photo was taken at Platform 9 3/4 in London), but I also got to fully immerse myself as a UL student for the semester. I attended classes, connected with the international student cohort I was a part of, and joined UL campus clubs like the windsurfing club (we went windsurfing on different shores of Ireland every weekend, so fun!). To this day, even after all of the places I have traveled to, Ireland is still my favorite place to visit.
Linda Gentile (Director of the Office of International Education)
Linda's Story
My first study abroad trip was a short-term trip (STOIT) with my high school Spanish class to Spain (I'm the one with the long hair in the purple shirt). We went to Madrid, Malaga, Sevilla and Toledo—where these photos were taken. I loved everything about the trip, especially the history and architecture dating back centuries that we were able to see first-hand. The experience reinforced my interest in becoming more fluent in Spanish, inspired me to learn more about Spain and prompted me to continue taking Spanish language and culture classes. I was determined to travel to Spain again after this trip. That short-term trip inspired my semester long study abroad program in Sevilla, Spain four years later, when I was in college, and has spurred a life-long interest in things related to Spain (and love of tortilla de patata & churros con chocolate)!
Kensee Lusebrink (Assistant Registrar)
Kensee's Story
My first short study abroad trip was to Italy, France, and England in 2005. We saw Rome, Florence, Paris, and London and it was my first real experience seeing how different nationalities live. Trying all the different food was amazing! Since I enjoyed that experience so much, I wanted to go abroad again. So when I was in college and there were opportunities to go on short study abroad trips, I went to Greece in 2006 and Egypt in 2008. We traveled to see the Acropolis and other ruins in Greece and then in Egypt we took a Nile river cruise and I got to go down into the second Great Pyramid at Giza. Being a history major in college, these were amazing experiences to actually see the monuments and places we learned about in class. I also did a month long study abroad in Cork, Ireland over the summer of 2007, and we got to travel to other cities in Ireland on the weekends and do fun activities, such as surfing.
