On Monday, December 9 Kellenberg Memorial alum Katie Solosky ’19 gave a presentation to the members of the junior and senior class to explain her college experience so far. She is currently enrolled in a program through LIU Post for a bachelor’s degree in Global Studies. Her program, entitled LIU Global spans over eight semesters in which she travels to and then studies in ten different countries. LIU Global students spend their first three years living and learning at the college’s centers and programs in Costa Rica, China, Europe, Asia-Pacific and/or Australia, acquiring what she called a cross-cultural education. The final year of the program begins with the International Research and Internship Semester (IRIS) at an LIU Global center or program of the student’s choice. It culminates in a Capstone semester in New York City. Upon graduation, Katie will graduate with a B.A. in Global Studies. She went onto explain to the students that after graduation she would like to pursue a law degree. However, there are many different fields of study that someone could pursue after college.
Katie went on to tell the students all the differences that she experienced studying in Costa Rica as opposed to a traditional college classroom. The biggest change was to learn the culture as the surrounding cities and people live quite differently from students in the United States. The majority of the professors are from the United States and the students involved in the program become good friends as class sizes are smaller and the professors have more time with their students. Her biggest challenge was learning the language and communicating with her house mom. But the adjustment period was brief and she felt like one of the family in no time at all. Katie’s most memorable experience was working with the sea turtles and being able to watch over 220 turtles hatch and run right into the ocean.
After her presentation, she took a multitude of questions from the students, ranging from her typical day to the countries she will choose to study in as the year’s progress. Overall, it was an eye-opening lesson for the students at Kellenberg Memorial of what other educational opportunities are out there. Good luck to Katie and all those involved in the LIU Global program.