Honors College students, Tim Hennessey and Nisrit Pandey spent the last summer traveling Europe together. The trip gave each of them new perspectives on cultures and a memorable experience getting to travel. After talking with each of them, here is how they explained their time together:
What were your overall travel plans for your trip as a whole?
Tim: I traveled to Europe this summer in the fashion I had primarily for my cousin. He had just graduated high school, been a history buff his entire life, and had only been outside of the country once (to a resort in Mexico, which sadly doesn’t count). I traveled to Europe once before by myself and I wanted to let my cousin experience some of the amazing things I had, so I bought him a plane ticket. Together, we traveled across Europe for a month and hit a total of 9 countries.
Nisrit: I received an internship in Germany at Ilmenau Institute of Technology. This allowed me travel all around Europe and even meet up with my family.
When did you meet up together and what was that like?
Tim: By the time I met up with Nisrit, there was actually five of us in our entourage in total: Nisrit, my cousin Jamie, my Italian friend Ted who traveled with us for two weeks, Max who is also a student at UWM, and myself. I would say Nisrit and I were the ones who really managed things together. We chose to meet in Berlin because both Max and Nisrit were working in Germany and Berlin is arguably the easiest city to get to by train. Seeing each other was pretty amazing. When Nisrit finally go to the Hostel I think we gave each other one of the biggest hugs. We had always joked about meeting each other in Europe someday, I just don’t think we thought it would be so soon.
Nisrit: Tim and I have been friends for two years and we hang out all the time. When he found out that I was going to Europe as well, he aligned his plans so that we would meet up in Berlin. Along with Tim, I met another UWM student there as well and it was very exciting to travel with them while enjoying the cultural sensation that Berlin offers.
What were your feelings while being abroad and why?
Tim: I would have to say that I felt overwhelmed, but only immediately before leaving. I literally planned every spec of the trip 1-3 months prior to leaving from the accommodations, transportation, airfare, trains, etc. Thus, the month prior I hadn’t really given it a lot of thought because everything was planned and them BAM! Here I was at the airport boarding a plane to Dublin with my younger cousin, who I was responsible for, and it all seemed so abrupt for some reason.
Nisrit: I have been traveling along for a while now, so I was not very nervous traveling. But it was quite overwhelming to live in Germany for a while when I did not know the language. However, engaging with people was really fun and I learned a lot about their culture.
How did being in Honors change the way you traveled abroad? Did you look at things differently? Did you take advantage of more than you normally would?
Tim: The first was something indirect. The whole benefit of the Honors College, for me personally, is its ability to allow students to really analyze little details, combine them, and create connections. For example, when we were in the Czech Republic, something about certain buildings stood out, so my cousin and I really analyzed why we felt this way. As it turns out, the reason we felt this way was because the buildings that stood out most had subtle carvings of men and women working in bread shops, factories, farms, etc. The reason being? These buildings were created during the Soviet occupation era where so much propaganda went into creating this ideal image of the stoic, working class individual. I think that being in the critical thinking environment of the Honors College allowed me to appreciate and understand something as simple as the architecture of Prague and relate it to the strong historic significance it represented.
The second way Honors changed the way I looked at things was far more direct. My very first Honors Class was entirely on Homer’s The Iliad. The class was very enjoyable and I learned quite a bit from it, but somehow never quite hit home. That is, until I went to Athens, Greece. My cousin and I had visited Hadrian’s Library, the Acropolis, the Ancient Agora of Athens, and far more. It was incredible tying in everything I learned in that class, which was so abstract at the time, and then having it come to life was more beautiful than I could have ever imagined.
Nisrit: Being in the Honors helped me critically think and become culturally competent, which definitely made things easier for me to adjust in a different country. The confidence I gained during my time in the Honors college has helped me interact with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures as well.
Any final thoughts on the trip as a whole?
Tim: The greatest times travelling abroad were connecting with people from other countries and cultures. You never know what kind of eye opening conversation you could have from people of other countries. I’ve explored Roman Ruins at 3am with a business owner from Iran, drank wine in Florence with a fashion designer from Istanbul, drove 300km on a Vespa with an Italian student, sampled scotch in Scotland with a Brazilian lawyer, and ate Greek Moussaka with a retired school teacher from Athens. None of these scenarios were set up or planned, they sort of just happened from being social and open minded. This too is where I think the Honors College may play a role. The classes are often associated in areas that take you outside of your comfort zone or realm of usual knowledge and are often presented with contrasting views to your own. In a global world, it’s important to be open minded to ideals that may seem contrasted to your own. When you get around much of the superficial layers and look beyond the differences, I think you begin to realize that we’re all extremely alike.
Nisrit: Working in Germany for three months exposed me to different styles of academic research and how I can foster in a cross-cultural research environment. I can’t believe I was able to have such a lot fun making batteries for three months!
