Parents
A newsletter for parents of Bethel University students
From Up North to Down Under
A Parent Visits Her Daughter Studying Abroad
By Michelle Westlund ’83
July 10, 2007.
After months of planning, preparation, and prayer, we take
our 20-year-old daughter, Nicolle, to the airport. A junior journalism
major, she’s traveling halfway around the world to study in Australia
for five months through AustraLearn, a Bethel-affiliated study abroad program.
I suddenly remember news stories about shark attacks at Australian beaches.
I realize she doesn’t speak “Outback.” I worry that she’ll
forget to look the “wrong” way when she crosses the road. We
say goodbye. We cry.
September 15-16, 2007.
In Minneapolis, I board a plane for Los Angeles, and from there another
to Auckland, New Zealand, on to Melbourne, Australia, and finally to
Perth, on the continent’s western coast. Nicolle has been studying
at Edith Cowan University in Perth for two months and is beginning her
mid-semester break. I am a bit disoriented after 36 straight hours of
traveling. I see Nicolle, who looks like she’s seen more sun than
sharks at Australian beaches. She’s got the Outback accent. She
hugs me forever. We cry. As we leave the airport, I am nearly hit by
a car coming from the “wrong” way.
September 27, 2007.
I have just spent the most amazing two weeks with my daughter in a place
I have always dreamed of visiting. She showed me her home, her school
(Australians call it “uni”), and her city, and introduced
me to her gracious and hospitable host family and friends. They gleefully
mimic our American accents and ask incredulous questions about lakes
that freeze. We share our thoughts on politics, churches, education,
and health care in our respective countries. We marvel at our differences—and
our similarities. We clearly feel our unity in Christ. Together, Nicolle
and I visit Sydney and spend a week seeing world-renowned sights like
the Sydney Opera House and the Harbor Bridge. And, oh yes, I fulfill
a lifetime goal: to be photographed with a koala.
November 26, 2007.
My cell phone rings. It’s Nicolle. “I’m back in the U.S.!” she
screams. We greet her at the airport and immediately notice the impact
of her time away: she is rumpled, yet confident; weary, but somehow wiser.
Her journey Down Under has changed her forever. We cry. As we leave the
airport, she is nearly hit by a car coming from the “right” way.
Bethel University is among the nation’s top colleges and universities in percentage of students who study abroad, according to an annual rating conducted by the Institute of International Education. Bethel sends 45.3 percent of its students abroad for some period of time during their undergraduate years. Many study abroad options are offered through 11 Bethel-sponsored programs and nine opportunities sponsored by the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) as well as numerous affiliated programs. Semesters of study are usually available for a cost comparable to a semester of tuition at Bethel.