Lydia Smith

Lydia is majoring in Media and Social Change. Lydia is minoring in French and Geography with a concentration in Globalization and Development, and she is working towards certificates in Global Leadership, Southeast Asian Studies, and TEFL. Lydia is also involved with Fridays Live on campus. She completed a study abroad + internship experience with Transitions, a solutions journalism outlet, through one of our affiliate providers AIFS program in Prague, Czechia. 

What skills do you feel you've gained from going on a global program?

My global experiences have taught me how to be adaptable and hands-on with my own life. Learning how to be a self-starter has has made me wildly more competent in my professional life; I have the toolbox to see the big picture and avoid getting discouraged by tiny setbacks.

What is one of your favorite memories from your global program?

In Prague, I struck up a friendship with an older Czech woman who acted as a cultural liaison for our program. She offered weekly activities, such as attending festivals or art museums. A friend and I took advantage of these opportunities to see unique parts of the city we would never have discovered on our own, and she even gave us some informal Czech language lessons. I gained deep cultural insight from these chats and I now feel like I really understand the city and the Czech national identity.

After my program ended, I attended Cannes Film Festivals and saw world premieres of films whose international filmmakers I admire. I saw four movies a day and met students in various screenings. It was scary and overwhelming but I'm so proud of myself for taking the solo trip and starting to interact with an arts community I'd one day like to be a part of.

What advice would you give a student you is interested in a global program?

Go in with no expectations. Any time you set an expectation for how other people are going to treat you – or even how you yourself want to act during your experience – you set yourself up for disappointment. Listen, observe and adapt for a while, and then when you feel comfortable, you can start carving out your own routines for self-fulfillment.