Czech Republic: Samuel Elko

Program: Czech University of Life Sciences, Academic Year

Samuel’s Major: Agricultural Business Management

What is your most memorable experience from your program?

The most memorable experience from my time in Prague was meeting all of the international students at CZU. It was there that I created strong friendships with people from all over the world but especially Central Asian countries and Turkey. This was amazing for me because I had never been so surrounded by people of different cultures and languages, and it produced some really interesting and funny conversations.

What challenges or barriers did you face as you prepared to go abroad and/or during your time abroad? How did you work through them?

Being alone in a new country is hard for anyone, especially when the language there is completely different than what you speak, like Czech. There were also a lot of bureaucratic changes like in school, specifically registering for classes and learning about how to get involved in things. For me, the easiest way to face these was just to embrace the challenge and go at it with a smile. Depending on where you go, you might have to learn how to enjoy being in uncomfortable and new situations. Being open and curious will always get you further along than staying shy and on the sidelines.

What did you learn about yourself or the world because of your experience?

I learned that I am someone who deeply values human connections, especially those that are with people from very different parts of the world. Meeting students from all over really made me realize that despite cultural and linguistic barriers, kind people will always find something to connect over. I was fortunate to meet many kind people with whom I developed meaningful relationships with. I learned a lot about other countries and cultures and have developed an appetite to discover and experience more of these foreign places and people.

How will your experience benefit you in the future? How might it affect your future career or studies?

My experience has completely changed where I see myself in the future. I always knew I had a strong desire to travel but now I can even see myself moving and living abroad in somewhere like France or Germany. As for my studies, I believe that I’ll have a much more global approach to the way I view things.