John Fitzgerald Dooley

I spent the last year studying at Thammasat University in Bangkok, Thailand. In attempts to achieve the proper mindset prior to my time abroad, I decided to spend the preceding summer in Sri Lanka where I lived with a local family and taught English in the surrounding villages. My time abroad proved to be more incredible than I ever could have imagined. Every experience from the minute I landed was just constantly building this amazing journey. The good, the bad, the terrifying; it all just got chalked up to “incredible” at the end of the day. Aside from the unhealthy amount of time I spent traveling to surrounding countries, my day-to-day life in Thailand was actually as unpredictable as my time spent traveling. The most consistent aspect of my day was waking up at 4:30 am to assist a monk I had met at one the local monasteries in my area with his morning collection of alms or offerings from the people in the neighborhood. At the university, I attended a vast array of classes in both Thai and English all of which were intellectually stimulating regardless of what my transcript may have reflected. After class, I would head up the river on one of the express boats to one of my many jobs typically located in the downtown area of Bangkok. My role, regardless of the organization, was to basically be white. Apparently, it’s quite rare to find a foreigner with skills (mediocre, if anything) in Thai language. The money was of course appreciated but the real reason I chose to work was to simply see another aspect of Thai culture and to get even more involved in the life I was living. I met incredible people everywhere I went and with everything I did. It’s a beautiful culture in Thailand and really has a lot to offer the world in the ways of serenity and cultural continuity. I feel fortunate to have been able to experience such a different view of the world and will continue to carry everything I’ve learned with me in my life wherever I may end up. I concluded my time abroad with yet another mind bowing journey through India. I left from Thailand with two of my friends from Japan for Kolkata with the intention of simply heading north into the Himalayan mountain range. We ended up heading east to the coast and then finally vaguely north through Bangladesh. Once again, the trip was brought to another level by placing out trust in the hands of the local people. We were fortunate enough to see aspects of the country rarely seen by foreigners and made lifelong friends in the process. We finally did make it to Darjeeling and were absolutely blown away by the Tibetan culture in which we’d stumbled upon. It was a great way to end my time abroad and once again reconfirm my love and curiosity of different cultures throughout this world we all live on. jackfdooley@gmail.com

Claire Froelich

Say “Japan” and many think Hello Kitty, Pokemon, and advanced toilet technologies. I think of those things too, but also so, so much more: Japan is a historically fascinating country rich in tradition and home to a culture unlike any you will experience here in the United States. Living in the international hub of Tokyo not only opened my eyes to this captivating, warm and unique culture but also to the rest of the world as I made incredible life-long bonds with people of many ages and countries. Beyond enjoying the bustling bright-lighted capital, I was able to travel to many cities around the nation and even nearby foreign countries over the span of four distinctly beautiful seasons thanks to the amazing transportation systems in place. The people I met, the places I went, the failures and triumphs endured and achieved while in Japan are all factors in my own personal growth, which I wouldn't trade for anything. I dare you to climb Mt. Fuji!  claire.froelich@gmail.com

Alex Horrell

My year abroad in Japan was an incredible experience.  It afforded me the opportunity to make friends with people from Japan, and around the world.  While in Japan, I watched the sunrise from Mount Fuji's summit, saw a Giant Robot in Odaiba, visited the temples of Kyoto, and had countless other experiences that I will never forget.  Studying abroad has had such a huge impact on my life, that I can't help but recommend to everyone that they spend time abroad.  alexander.horrell@umontana.edu

Michelle Kato

I studied at Kumamoto University for a full academic year, and it was the best experience I’ve had yet. I took a variety of classes on two of the three campuses; I played soccer for the university with their women’s football club; I traveled to six other prefectures as well as South Korea. All the different people I met, I still keep in close contact with today. They helped me feel so comfortable living and studying there, and this created so many new friendships for me, but it also helped confirm my career track in public relations. While I was there, I received a scholarship from the government for about three months. In addition to that, I worked part-time as a private English instructor for the last five months of my stay. The area was so historically rich, I truly enjoyed getting lost some of my days there. I stumbled into so many strange stores with such kind people working there, and found so many hidden temples. I also found some very nice restaurants where mothers or grandmothers were seemed to have opened the downstairs of their homes to the public. It was always nice to get to know the locals and interact with them. They always seemed sincerely interested in where I was from and why I was studying Japanese, especially in Kumamoto. My only regret is that I didn’t study there sooner. kato_bear@yahoo.com