Singapore Semester Provides Michele Maciejewski '09 with 'Eye-Opening' Intercultural Learning Experience
Michele Maciejewski '09 loved her semester in Singapore. She chose Singapore because she was seeking immersion in a completely different culture, yet one that was comparatively modern. "It was an experience I would never take back and hopefully will never forget," she says. "The places I traveled to and the people I saw are still with me even now, months after my return."
One outstanding experience for her was attending a Chinese New Year lunch with a Singapore host family. "I had the strangest food, including raw jellyfish, pig intestine, and sea cucumber, and also some wonderful pastries. I actually tried everything, too! The feeling of love and comfort that the family and their friends demonstrated made me feel like I was at Christmas dinner with my own family. It was something to be part of such a fun tradition."
Her host family helped Maciejewski explore many of the less-touristy areas of Singapore, including a vegetable farm where the banana plant leaves towered over them. She also traveled to Indonesia and Malaysia, where she visited the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur and Hindu temples scattered throughout the countryside.
For spring break, she toured southeast Asia with a large group of students. "The trip took me from seedy Bangkok to a beautiful beach town in Cambodia to historical, though slightly hostile, Ho Chi Minh City. It was amazing to see the legacy of their war with America and how much they have changed since then."
"I learned many life skills abroad," says Maciejewski. "I learned how to take care of myself around people that I do not necessarily understand and how to accept cultural differences. Being in the minority for the first time was an eye-opener. I also learned that you should take every golden opportunity presented to you, no matter how new and different it appears, because you never know when it will come around again."
Maciejewski is a communication management and design major with a concentration in corporate communication and a minor in politics. She actively participates in the communications and management honor societies and is a co-chair in IC After Dark. She also enjoys working at the Fitness Center and is currently in training to participate in a triathlon.
"My career goals," she says, "are to become an event planner for a major sports corporation or a nonprofit organization. My Singapore experience inspired a desire to travel, so hopefully I will have a career that is international in scope."
More images from the Singapore semester can be viewed in the CMD Study Abroad photo gallery.
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