Student Perspectives

Alan Pearcy

Alan Pearcy enjoying a cappuccino
in a Viennese café.

Why do you think your experience in Vienna, and particularly, your collaboration with the Viennese students, was significant? This was the question posed to me via e-mail one day concerning my recent interim study abroad trip. At first, I couldn’t come up with a single, consolidated answer. This wasn’t merely an inquiry about what I liked about Vienna. This dealt with something much bigger, and, by far, deeper than that. I found my answer couldn’t just concern this one city and its people, but had to address our global culture as a whole.

In Vienna, I came across more than just Austrian people (not Australian — no kangaroos) and the students from the University of Vienna with whom my fellow Bradley “study-abroaders” and I worked. Besides other Americans, we ran into people from almost every continent. The palaces were great, from Schonbrunn to Belvedere, and the art of the city was amazing, including the rich classical music, such as Mozart and Beethoven, that filled the air. The endless hills of the countryside were an overwhelming splendor of green (although not really as alive as a certain movie may have you believe). Even the daily Viennese cappuccinos that were so pleasantly sipped on while people-watching for endless hours at any of the city’s numerous, yet distinctively quaint, cafés were amazing. However, it was the people I saw as I sat at these enchanting cafés who enticed me most of all. They were all so different: different languages, different ethnicities, different skin colors, different beliefs, different ways of doing the same things, etc. Light bulb: this is what was so significant about my trip to Vienna. The experience taught me how important it is for us all to not only understand one another in this world, but also to be thankful for the differences that make each of us and our backgrounds so unique.

The group of Viennese students I worked alongside of expressed how wrenching it is to hear people who travel on month-long tours of Europe, spending each day in a new country, express so quickly they “know” Europe. It’d be the same as if anyone came to the United States, went to New York, and said, “Ah, so this is America!” To truly know a place, one has to spend enough quality time and have enough interaction with its people to fully appreciate everything it has to offer. This is what I, as well as the rest of the Bradley students, did when we were in Vienna. We found her soul and did more than just acclimate ourselves to it.

It’s a Billy Joel hit of the late 1970s that proclaims “Vienna waits for you.” Well, ol’ Billy was right. The city waits, its people wait, and quite frankly, the entire world waits in Vienna. While encountering this firsthand through my study abroad experience, I’m still left a bit shaky whether or not to declare I actually “know” Vienna. However, I do know more about the world and its people now, and I feel confident enough to profess it’s the differences we each hold so strongly to that make us unique, yet similar, at the same time. As long as each of us respects these differences that we all have to cling to, we can grow together in the future by making a valid and valiant effort to understand one another more.

Alan Pearcy '80, Advertising major

Julia Sawa

Julia Sawa, first row right, with her classmates.

Going to Vienna was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I got a chance to make some great new friends, utilize my knowledge of the German language, and gain a feeling of confidence and independence—something I needed to find. The English class I took required me to reflect and analyze my thoughts, feelings, and experiences throughout the trip and helped me better my writing. The collaboration with the University of Vienna students was an experience unlike any other. We broke down stereotypes, learned about each other’s cultures, and had a little fun as well. It was great to learn about the life of a college student in a totally different country, in a city totally opposite from Peoria. Since we were pretty much in our group most of the time, it was great to see and learn about Vienna and its culture from someone who lives there. Going to Vienna was an opportunity I am glad I did not miss. If my experience is any indication of everyone else’s and the program as a whole, study abroad is a wildly successful experience.

Julia Sawa '90, Elementary Education major

With regard to my academic expectations, I stated I wanted to be able to analyze differences between the two cultures and learn how to write more descriptively. With the way our class was structured, I feel I learned a lot about the culture of Vienna and our culture as well. Our class talked about the differences we noticed in Vienna, and Dr. Swafford would make us question why we thought these differences existed and what this told us about our culture. Because of this, I feel like I learned so much more about myself than I was expecting to from this study abroad experience. As a result, I feel like I learned how to better analyze differences I experience both in Vienna and my everyday life.

Christine Newsome '80, Health Science major

I felt my personal goals and expectations far exceeded what I wanted in the trip and program. I saw, participated, experienced, and grew more than I ever thought. I think I really experienced and learned from the Viennese culture and have taken characteristics that I appreciated there back to the United States. I have also been inspired to become more well rounded in education. It astonishes me that all of the University of Vienna students have mastered so many studies and are fluent in so many languages. In that sense, I really do believe I was able to achieve my goals of overstepping my comfort zone to experience new situations. I also met my personal goals for the class. I was really able to improve upon my communication skills and public speaking techniques.

Kelly McCann '80, Nursing major

Museum in Vienna

Bradley students toured Vienna’s Museum
Quarter with their collaborators from the
University of Vienna.

The drive to learn is a quality college students should be familiar with. We pay tens of thousands of dollars each year to be filled with knowledge so we can one day be successful at a job we enjoy. Unfortunately, amid exams and course requirements, part-time jobs, and extracurricular activities, this thirst for knowledge is frequently lost. The more common goal becomes merely achieving good grades, even if the knowledge acquired is forgotten after the class is completed. Being allowed inside Viennese culture, thanks to the students at the University of Vienna, helped me to realize why I want to grow to be a more cultured individual.

By having the opportunity to become a part of the Viennese culture, I was able to see through the eyes of the Viennese students, instead of merely being one of Vienna’s many tourists. Through my study abroad experience, and especially the collaboration with the University of Vienna students, I was able to get a real taste of Viennese life by going out with citizens of the country. The lifestyle differences I learned about helped me to see with dazzling clarity what it would be like to live in Vienna. I was taught through my experiences to understand there are differences between the United States and Austria, and these differences are not weird, as commonly referred to during our trip, but they are simply unfamiliar. This is important because when we truly understand people of different nationalities and put ourselves in their shoes, it disproves stereotypes, as was done with our University of Vienna collaboration project. This project allowed us to talk with students and to sort out and disprove some typecasts we held about each other. We all learned the importance of remembering individuality and respecting that every person has his or her own set of beliefs and values, and to me, this was the most significant part of the study abroad program.

I plan to have many more traveling experiences in the future. Bradley’s study abroad program was a wonderful start for me, especially in that we were given the opportunity to work with Viennese students. I feel as though before my travels to Vienna, I was ignorant of other cultures. I hope never to have to admit to this again. Not only have I realized why being cultured is important, but I have taken my first steps in actually becoming a cultured citizen, and I’m not turning back.

Beth Alderson '90, Public Relations major

In a relatively short two-and-a-half week period, it amazes me how much my mind has broadened its views from my experiences in Vienna. By participating firsthand in a different culture, I was able to discover a different lifestyle and to unfold the attributes that make me an American. I was very anxious to see the cultural differences of Vienna; however, I wasn’t anticipating the long-lasting impressions it left behind. Through Bradley’s collaboration with the students of the University of Vienna, my impressions of the culture could be based on the students’ opinions as well as my own observations. Studying abroad in Vienna was a great eye-opener, a fun experience, and a trip I’ll always remember.

Donna Sula '90, Health Science major

Ben Johnson and Professor Stoner

Ben Johnson with Dr. Stoner.

The fastest two weeks of my life. At first I couldn’t believe it was over. Where did it all go? Then I thought back on my journey—all the places I went, all the people I met, and all the information I learned. I am so happy that I chose to go to Vienna for my study abroad experience.

This study abroad program is unique. It gives students the opportunity to take whatever they want from it. The classes were mixed with people who had been overseas before and first timers. It seemed like everyone enjoyed every second of the trip and all it had to offer. Vienna is a great spot to see European culture, architecture, and historic monuments. Vienna also is centrally located providing great opportunities to travel many places on your free weekend, including Prague, Gmunden, Salzburg, and many cities in Germany. Vienna has a lot to offer for nightlife. Its variety of discos, late-night restaurants, and pubs gives visitors a chance to experience any type of nightlife you want to pursue. One of my favorite parts about the trip is that you get to see your professors from a whole new perspective. I couldn’t ask for a better crew of teachers. Dr. Conley, Dr. Stoner, Dr. Prescott, Dr. Swafford, and Professor Lawrence are a fun group and will teach you plenty, inside and outside of the classroom.

The program that Dr. Conley has organized is quite amazing. He will teach you enough German to get around the city easily and set up very informational interactions. A trip to Mauthausen, a concentration camp located near Linz, Austria, is a learning experience that is hard to come by. You will not only learn a lot about the lives of concentration camp prisoners, but it will help you realize how wonderful your life is and deepen one’s own sense of empathy. He also set up a chance to communicate directly with students from the University of Vienna. We spent a lot of time with the students discussing both American and Austrian cultures, stereotypes, and lifestyles. Many students enjoyed the time they spent together so much that they ended up meeting each other many times outside of the classroom setting. I am still in contact with the students I personally interacted with, and it is fun to get to know people from different parts of the world. This program allows you to do that, and it is definitely worth it.

The last thing gained through this program is friends. I went into the trip not knowing anyone. After two weeks, I built many close bonds. Studying abroad, in general, is a great way to meet people and travel with them, creating great friendships. When I was on my way to O’Hare to fly out, I was frightened and wondered what I had gotten myself into. I am not a very outgoing person, but before I got on the plane I had already made friends and plans to travel on the free weekend. On our last night together, I was sitting in a room having a great time with 20 other students, three teachers from Bradley, and three teachers from the University of Vienna — most of us not knowing each other prior to this trip. Studying abroad in Vienna was definitely at least one of the best decisions I have made in my academic career, if not the best.

Ben Johnson '90, Management and Administration, Finance major