Why Studying Abroad in Wisconsin Was the Best Decision I Made at Penn

Choosing to spend time a semester away from Penn was not an easy decision. I knew I would be leaving behind friends, wonderful professors, and access to McKinsey & Company info sessions. However, getting the chance to study in America’s heartland is not an everyday opportunity, and I knew I had to take it. Looking back, spending a semester abroad in Wisconsin was the best decision I’ve made at Penn, and I’ll keep saying it until the cows come home. 

I had already taken six years of Spanish — it was natural that the campos of Spain called to me. But there was something equally alluring about the fertile plains of Wisconsin’s dairy farms.

I knew Wisconsin was somewhere I had to be. 

I made a lot of unforgettable friends and had a lot of unforgettable experiences: eating cheese curds straight from the barrel, wearing a cheese hat at the packed Packers' stadium, sharing a Snickers salad with my Midwestern boys.

Upon returning to Penn, I heard endlessly about how people like Lindsay had studied abroad in London. While my story may not be riddled with Eurocentric highlights, a part of my heart will always reside in the fields and dairy farms of Wisconsin.