Marie Burditt

Marie participated in the 2022 Study Abroad program in Europe.

A Conversation with Marie Burditt

Why did you choose to study abroad?

I chose to study abroad because I have wanted to travel all my life. I was homeschooled before I turned 17, and I took dual-credit classes at a local community college. My family has never really had the money or resources to go on vacations or travel anywhere besides maybe Oklahoma. Due to this, I grew up super sheltered and never really got to experience the way that others live or the way that various places do things. Moving to college was already a huge change for me, but I quickly adapted and have experienced a lot more since then. Still, I dreamed about traveling, even just across the U.S., but Europe (especially Germany) has always been a bucket list destination for me. This program caught my eye immediately. While the other capstone experiences are also awesome opportunities, study abroad immediately caught my attention. Now that I’m back, all I can say is that I was correct—it was all worth it! I only wish I could travel more right away!

What surprised you the most about your experience?

Probably the thing that surprised me the most, besides differences like almost no ice in Germany, no air-conditioning in Europe and pay-to-use restrooms, were the realizations I had while traveling. I am not one to sugarcoat experiences, and so I will be honest: the Eiffel tower is cool, but it is much smaller than I was expecting and is not all what I thought it would be. However, that small interjection aside, the realizations that I had centered around our coursework and the focus on rebuilding, resilience and resistance during World War II. Before traveling and visiting places like Dachau and Omaha Beach, I thought, “Why should I really care that much about something that happened 76 years ago?” I had no personal connection and no family members that I know of who served, and so I didn’t understand why I should care. After traveling with the class and learning more about the history of significant historical places, my mind is forever changed. Just envisioning myself as a prisoner in Dachau or a soldier on Omaha Beach, trying to make it past the rain of bullets, really made me think about everything I take for granted. I realized that our generation is the future and that we can never let something like that happen again. While I have a lot more to learn, this stood out to me. I went into the program just wanting to travel and see the world, and I gained a lot more than just leisure travel.

What was your favorite part of your time overseas?

My best friend and I visited the Nymphenburg Palace in Germany. The day was a rollercoaster, and by the end of it we had blisters all over our toes, dead phones, and we were very cranky; however, it was an experience I will never forget. We wanted to see the palace, so first we had to figure out the train system. Keep in mind, we had only been in Europe for almost two days and had not gone anywhere by ourselves, except on foot. So, this was a daunting task. We only had one battery pack between the two of us and two phones that lose charge quickly. Anyway, we figured out the train system fast, got on the train, rode for about 15 minutes and then had a 10-minute walk to the palace. Once we figured out how to get in, we walked around the palace grounds first before moving on to the actual palace, which was incredibly beautiful. We spent awhile inside and then we began to try and find our way back. Well, we are both directionally challenged, and both of our phones were on something like 5% with our battery pack dead. To conserve our phone batteries, we were determined we could find out way out without GPS. We ended up wandering around for almost a full two hours. Finally, we found the entrance and then realized we did not know how to get back to the train station. We used our remaining battery to get us halfway to the train station. Our phones died, but we made it back to the hostel where we were staying. By the end, I was walking hunched over, and any bench we saw, we sat for about a minute to rest because we had easily walked 40,000+ steps that day, and we felt it! Yet, this day was my favorite memory! While we were not the smartest, and we should have done things quite differently, hindsight is 20/20 and it is quite hilarious!

How do you intend to use this experience in the future?

I intend to use this experience in the future to not only advocate highly for the study abroad program itself, but also as a lesson to myself to not take so much for granted. I knew before the trip that I was incredibly fortunate compared to many others, and I was grateful for that. However, I still complained, as we all tend to do, about the small inconveniences in my life. While I might still complain some days, my travels have helped me realized just how lucky I am. Additionally, I am going to use this experience in the future to hopefully help others with things like travel knowledge (as none of my family has traveled outside the U.S. either) or even knowledge about world history. Currently, I am using my experiences to broaden my mind about other cultures, comparing it to life in the U.S. It’s not only interesting, but it says a lot about the world itself and its current issues.

What is your advice to students who want to study abroad?

My advice is do it! Go for it! Don’t let anything get in your way! I almost didn’t go due to the costs. However, with the generous scholarships the college provided, as well as working two jobs, I made it work. I am forever grateful that I was able to go because the experience was truly once-in-a-lifetime. You only live once, and you might as well go and travel and see some of the world, right? It is not every day you get lost while viewing castles, or drink beer in Germany, or see the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It is worth every penny, because money can be earned back any day, but experiences like these are irreplaceable.