Chelsea Parker '09 was one of five students asked to tell her story about a study abroad experience to the National Geographic Society last month in Washington, D.C.
On March 26, 2008, the National Geographic Society and Glimpse invited a select group of study abroad alumni to their board meeting to have the opportunity to network and encourage National Geographic to support study abroad.
"Studying abroad taught me life lessons," she wrote in a letter to Glimpse. "I danced with gypsies in Romania, swam in the Adriatic Sea and observed major political demonstrations in Kosovo. I saw for my own eyes under-privilege and poverty. I saw for my own eyes the result of ethnic cleansing in the Balkan region."
An economics and international relations major from Branford, Conn., Chelsea was one of 50 students who shared opinions and stories about living and studying abroad in a brainstorming session. She was one of only five who were asked to tell "vignettes" from their experience.
"It was really wonderful," Chelsea said. "Once you study abroad, doors open for you."
Chelsea, who studied in Budapest last fall, talked about meeting a 19-year-old hostel owner in Sarajevo, who at age 6, had carried 80 to 100 pounds of food and other supplies through six miles of tunnel every day of the war. He also led people to safety.
In July, Chelsea plans to take an intensive course on European culture in Prague. She has aspirations to obtain her master's degree in Brussels, come back to the U.S. for law school, and then work for the European Commission. "Doing study abroad was the best decision of my life," she said.