spotlight on honors

honors students abroad

Chelsea - Giessen, Germany

Junior, business (operations management & analysis) Major & German Minor

I will be studying at Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, which is in Giessen, Germany.  I choose to study in Germany because I am working towards a minor in German.  I also choose Germany because when I went on my senior trip to Europe, I fell in love with the German people, culture, and it's natural beauty.

March 2012

Giessen is not at all what I was expecting from Germany.  When you think Germany, you think of quaint little towns that you see on all of the postcards.  Giessen is not like that at all; about 80% of the city was destroyed in World War II and had to be rebuilt as fast as possible. Gissen reminds me a lot of Terre Haute in a few ways.  Around the campus and housing there is a lot of construction and industrialism and it’s not very appealing, but it’s the people that you meet and become friends with that make it worthwhile to stay.  But in Giessen’s defense, the city center is really nice.

One of the biggest adjustments of my study abroad experience was that the semester is from April-July instead of January-May.  I am currently in my Pre-Semester language course to fine tune my language, listening comprehension, and reading skills before I start classes in 2 weeks. Its also been quite an experience getting to know the public transportation system; I was not used to having the plan my schedule around busses and trains, I was used to getting in my car and going.  This has taught me to BE ON TIME, because the bus will not wait for you even if they see you running.

But I am loving it here in Giessen!  I have met so many great people from around the US and the world (Wisconsin, Kansas, Australia, Brazil, Greece, Germany, etc.).  I have only traveled around the Hessen so far; I’ve been to Wiesbaden (the capital of Hesse) and Frankfurt (the Financial Capital of Germany).  I have a 10 day break coming up and I will be in Italy for 7 of those days.  And there are many other weekend trips in the works to Amsterdam, Poland, Prague, Normandy, France, and all around Germany!  I can’t wait for the semester to start and meet more people and I can’t wait to explore Europe!

Here are some pictures of my travels thus far.

This is in the city center of Giessen, this is more along the lines of what I was expecting J

This is the Parliament building in Wiesbaden, Germany.  It was also the former residence of the Duke of Nassau.

This is in one of the many Parks that you can find around Wiesbaden.

This was in the Altstadt of Frankfurt am Main!  This is such a beautiful city to explore and its only 45 minutes away from Giessen by train.

This is why I love Frankfurt and Europe so much.  Only in Europe can you find the original medieval city interwoven into the current that it has become.

For more information about studying abroad, please visit ISU's Study Abroad website or contact Janis Halpern, Study Abroad Program Director, at (812) 237-3427 or Janis.Halpern@indstate.edu.