Gwynn Perdue

How did studying abroad affect your academic and/or professional career?

Studying abroad helped me to challenge myself academically while also learning to make time for other activities, such as immersing myself in the local culture.

How did you explore your hobbies, interests, and passions abroad?

I made sure to use almost all of my free time to explore the city of Copenhagen, taking advantage of all the modes of transportation and familiarizing myself with every area of the city. I made sure to visit local book shops, cafes, and museums and to walk and bike whenever I was able to. This provided me with a great way to see the city along the way.

Why would you recommend your respective abroad program or location?

DIS Copenhagen was an absolutely amazing program. For starters, they made the process a lot less intimidating by handling complicated logistics (visa, housing, food stipend, transportation from airport, etc.) while also giving you room to challenge yourself. I absolutely loved my classes and professors, as well as the strong emphasis on immersing yourself within the culture during class. On Wednesdays, you have field studies instead of class where you get to go on field trips that are relevant to your course content. Even if the program had been horrible, however, I still would be absolutely obsessed with the City of Copenhagen. I experienced some of the most intense personal growth and moments of mindfulness that I have in my life. The culture is just so positive and has ingrained personal care and happiness into their set of values in a way that I have never seen. I cannot recommend DIS or Copenhagen itself enough.

What should students consider when applying and preparing for their time abroad?

Consider who you are going with and consider going with a smaller group if possible. Also try and look into the program itself to make sure your coursework will be helpful for your major.

Share a story about a time you experienced cultural immersion.

Since DIS places you with a random roommate and you are responsible to take public transportation to get everywhere, I felt as if I was experiencing cultural immersion on a daily basis. I felt as if I was truly living as a resident in Copenhagen, rather than studying abroad there for a few months.