My name is Sean Mellin. I attend Northern Illinois University where I’m one semester away from having a bachelor’s degree in Management with an emphasis in Leadership and Management. I will also have a minor in Marketing, which my IBS trip will help me earn. The seminar I attended was the 2019 Summer Europe (the longest one).
Hear more directly from Sean:
What did you learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?
From my experience abroad, I learned some foreign perspectives that I wouldn’t have had otherwise. More specifically, I was able to look at the US from the outside in a way that I wouldn’t have been able to do at home. It was definitely worthwhile.
Did you develop or improve any qualities or skills during the seminar? If so, what were they and how did they develop/improve?
One skill that was improved during this seminar was my communications skills. There was the obvious fact that English isn’t the primary language in most of the places we went to, but there was more to it than that. Often if people in those places knew English, they were taught British English, not American English. This meant that often, certain words or phrases that I’d say wouldn’t be understood, so I had to think of other ways to say things in order to get the point across.
Being able to travel to multiple cities and countries, what travel advice do you have for future students?
Since this trip involves traveling to several places, my advice to future students would be to keep in mind how tiring that is and take care of yourself. Drink water, get enough sleep and do anything else that will improve your wellbeing.
If you have any questions email me at: Z1842389@students.niu.edu