Friends study abroad to enhance educational knowledge, cultural perspectives

Friends study abroad to enhance educational knowledge, cultural perspectives

Two Northwest Missouri State University students are returning to the campus this fall after fulfilling their hopes of studying abroad and linking their coursework to cultural experiences beyond their textbooks.

Brooke Reyes is a senior art education major from Omaha, and Olivia Haynes is a senior business marketing major from Missouri Valley, Iowa. After developing a lasting friendship as freshmen, the pair decided to study abroad together and spent the spring semester in Prague.

They completed coursework related to their respective majors through the University of New York in Prague while connecting with students from throughout the world and the Czech culture.

To enhance her interests in art, Reyes gained a new perspective on teaching techniques while taking courses related to photography, design and psychology. She hopes to become a high school art teacher to combine her love for art and teaching future generations.

"My educational psychology class was like breaking the fourth wall of education - like why we put this on the PowerPoint for the students, why you put it in this order, things like that," Reyes said. "I have so much more knowledge on different things, especially being an art teacher."

Traveling to a country with so much history and seeing its architecture also helped cement her learning in courses at Northwest. Both Reyes and Haynes were fascinated by the sites they visited, specifically the Charles Bridge.

Reyes especially enjoyed visiting galleries and museums in Prague, as well as in Italy and England, after being a student in one of Associate Professor of Art Dr. Karen Britt's classes at Northwest. Field trips were a key component of her coursework abroad, which also included daily walks to photograph the people and streets of Prague.

"I was in Dr. Britt's art history class, which really inspired me to be an art history lover," Reyes said. "I would dive deeper (in her class), but being able to see what I would study in that class in person was actually so cool."

While Haynes sought the study abroad opportunity for the travel experience, she was surprised to return with new perspectives on business and marketing practices. Her coursework included an introduction to advertising and social media marketing - which included a branding project that involved visiting cafés and restaurants to craft online reviews.

"That was really cool to do just because it was interactive as well and I got to meet people from all over the world," Haynes said.

Hoping to be an entrepreneur, Haynes said she chose a path in business marketing because it fuels her creativity. Studying abroad not only fulfilled a dream but led to her developing new skills that will help her be successful in her career.

"I really tried to make it well-rounding and gain as much experience as I possibly could, so that it could set me apart and help me in my career," she said. "With the marketing and a study abroad experience, I think that'll help me with anything that I do in life, no matter if it's in with my career or if it's outside of it."

Beyond the academic experiences, Haynes and Reyes are grateful for the connections they fostered with other students that transformed into lifelong memories. The pair lived with roommates from Arizona, Kentucky and Australia, in addition to forming bonds with classmates from Vietnam and the Nethlerlands.

"The world is very vast and large, but honestly, we're also very similar in a lot of ways," Haynes said. "It was really cool to learn about shared experiences with everyone."

For more information about study abroad experiences offered at Northwest, visit https://www.nwmissouri.edu/international/studyabroad/.