#IEW2019 Q&A with…Shannon Coyne
International Education Week in the Faculty of Arts
Going Abroad with Shannon Coyne
November 18–22 is International Education Week, which is celebrated in over 100 countries around the globe. During this week, we will be highlighting stories from students (and the Dean of Arts, Lesley Cormack!) who have gone abroad as part of their program in the Faculty of Arts.
All interviews conducted by Sherilyn Trompetter, Senior Officer International, Undergraduate Student Services, Faculty of Arts.
Meet Shannon Coyne, who received her BA in 2018 with a double major in Political Science and German Language and Literature. Shannon worked in Student Recruitment and Engagement for Arts Undergraduate Student Services, and just recently moved on to a new opportunity with Concordia University of Edmonton.
Hi Shannon. Where did you go abroad?
I was fortunate enough to go to Germany twice! The first time I did the full exchange for one semester (five months) at the University of Tübingen. The second time was to attend a Canadian Summer School in Germany.
Did you have any German experience beforehand?
In my very first semester of university I took German classes just for fun, because my Oma and Opa speak German. I was a little bit lost in my first year, and German was the one class that I loved — that definitely impacted the course of my degree. After my first year, I traveled for a month in Germany alone. So not through a formal program or anything, but I went on a little solo trip, and met up with my family later on.
Yeah, so my first study abroad experience was in Germany. As it was my second time going there I had a bit of familiarity, but in hindsight, I didn’t know nearly as much as I thought that I knew!
How did you navigate the exchange? For instance, picking a country or a program?
It was a really spontaneous decision. I was literally just walking through HUB and I saw a sign that said ‘Go Abroad’ and I was like, okay I will! The application process was actually really easy. I applied, and picked three German universities with Tübingen as my first choice. I chose Tübingen because I wanted to be in a smaller city. I’m a little bit of an introvert, so I knew being in a big city would be triple the culture shock coming from Edmonton. Tübingen was great — I got to have that smaller university town experience that we don’t really have here, where the city is really just the university. I went in the winter semester, so I flew down beginning of March and stayed until the end of July.
Originally I was supposed to go in the fall, but I had some family stuff going on, so I spoke with the coordinator and she was really flexible and she just shifted it next semester.
Why did you go for a formal exchange?
I had a rough couple of years on campus — it was just totally different from my high school. I was in this rut where all I would do is study and go to the library. And if I didn’t get an A, then I was just devastated. Like I thought university was just the classes.
I needed to switch things up. So I filled out the study abroad form and then it just kind of happened.
Going to Germany was really big for me because it changed my entire perspective on what a degree is. I was suddenly in this town where it’s like I need to make friends because otherwise I’d be in my room alone all the time.
I had my own little community there, I was doing things every day, and I was so much happier! Not just because I was abroad, but because I was in a community. So it helped me identify that value for myself, and made me think, okay, how can I take the things that I love here and bring them back them back home?
Did this experience affect your major?
When I first started university I went into English and psychology. I switched into a German minor right away, because I loved my class so much. I started taking political science classes at the beginning of my second year. And when I was abroad, I was able to take political science courses (taught in English) that successfully transferred back to the U of A. It was kind of cool to take classes about the EU and the Persian Gulf — and get the European perspective. The only courses I took that were taught in German were my language courses. When I came back I switched my German minor into another major.
What delighted you about your experience?
My biggest takeaway was that I was able to turn a strange place into somewhere that felt like home — and it was devastating to leave. It was my home for five months and I made friends from across the world. I’m still in touch with a few of them today. I didn’t expect to create such close bonds with people.
The other thing for me was also having more independence. I lived at home throughout my degree, which is great because I had that support and the financial ability to go abroad. But abroad I actually got to be alone and have complete control over my life. I was living in student housing for German students. So there’s four German students and two international students on every floor, like a dorm, so that was kind of cool.
When I got back, I finally saw myself as an active actor in my own life. Like I actually had control and agency. That if I wasn’t doing something, it’s because I wasn’t doing something — it wasn’t just like life happening to me. I actually credit getting my job in the USS office and every job prior to this, to my international experience. Because I came back and I started volunteering, which ultimately led to this role. It has all kind of connected.
It seems so basic, but going abroad had a big impact on my life.
Was there anything that surprised you when you got home?
Yeah, there’s a common theme with people who go abroad — coming home was hard. You don’t prepare for it as much as you should, even though you go to orientation and they talk about reverse culture shock. It was weird coming home and feeling like a stranger in my own community, you know? There was this really silly moment where I walked on to an Edmonton transit bus and I was floored because the buses that I was getting on in Tübingen were red and blue! It was just such a mundane moment, where it just kinda hit me. Also, I realized how much sugar is in all the food here! I kept getting stomach aches because I would have Iced Capps and coffee with sugar. The food I had been eating in Germany was maybe not necessarily healthier but definitely had less sugar. So that was a wake-up call for how I was eating here.
What advice would you have for an Arts student who is considering a study abroad option?
I would definitely encourage them to do it if they can! It’s really tempting to go somewhere that’s really similar to home, like the UK, Australia and New Zealand. I’m sure they would also be really rewarding experiences, but I would encourage students to go somewhere where they are not familiar with the culture or they don’t know the language or very much of it. Go where everything is so much harder! The most rewarding part of my experience abroad was definitely learning those ins and outs of another culture, and having the opportunity to be the person who did not speak the language well, That helped me develop so much more empathy when I work with recent immigrants here or exchange students.
I think that’s an experience that every Arts student should have, especially because of the themes that we encounter in our studies.
Check out our amazing Study Abroad programs here!
