Shea Grateful for Abroad Experience

Junior year abroad is a very common and popular experience for many college students, and certainly a large percentage of MIDD students take advantage of this wonderful opportunity--roughly 60% of the student body studies abroad at Middlebury.  This year, all four of my juniors were studying abroad, and our student-assistant, Jack, was about to leave for his program in Japan right when the world-wide shut down was happening.  The other four were already settled in their programs and had to return home due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  We're not going to focus on their trials of getting back home, even though some had extreme difficulties and were somewhat harrowing, they all returned home safely, so that's the main thing.  Despite the total disruption of the semester, our juniors still had memorable and profound experiences in their respective countries.

Both Shea and Emma were in Copenhagen, and had apartments across the hall from each other in the same apartment complex.  During her time there, Shea mentioned being lucky to have traveled a lot with her roommates and close friends from MIDD. They visited Belgium and Scotland, as well as different cities in Switzerland, France, and Germany.






Shea described it as, "the most incredible experience that I will cherish forever."  She also mentioned, "the thing I miss the most about Copenhagen is the city's biking culture. There's nothing like biking on a sunny day along the water to class, my apartment, or to a fabulous brunch place.  I am very grateful for my time there and being home has made me even more grateful..."