Katherine McMenemy of the women's rowing team spent the Fall 2025 semester in Finland and writes about her time from the Northern Europe. Here is her experience...

By Katherine McMenemy '27

I have known for a very long time that I have wanted to study abroad during my time in college. As an International Studies and Anthropology double major, I saw studying abroad in Oulu as a wonderful opportunity. The University of Oulu has a wonderful anthropology program, and hosts hundreds of exchange students each semester, so I was able to meet so many people from all over the world. This experience has truly been life-changing for me.

I was able to immerse myself in Finnish culture by taking courses in the Scandinavian Studies program for exchange students in Oulu, learning more about Finnish history, Sámi culture, the Finnish language, Nordic mythology, and anthropology in the context of sustainability. I was also able to take a course in political geography, which was very eye-opening. If you are looking to learn more about a new culture, I would highly recommend this program to you!
 

While abroad, I had so many wonderful opportunities to travel, and I was able to explore a lot of new places. I traveled to Austria, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Sweden, and Vatican City. Being able to learn more about so many places and cultures has been very impactful to me, and it is an experience I will carry with me throughout the rest of my life.

Some of my highlights from Finland have been making friends from many different countries, seeing the northern lights, exploring nature within Oulu, learning more about Nordic culture, visiting the Christmas Village in Rovaniemi and standing on the Arctic Circle boundary, and visiting a zoo in the middle of a forest. Seeing the northern lights has been such a cool experience, and on the nights that it is not cloudy, they are very strong. You can see them with the naked eye in a way I have never experienced before, and you can also see them moving!

I believe that a global education truly allows you to expand your worldview, and it is a very valuable part of education. I am very privileged to have the opportunity to study abroad and travel so much during my time abroad and believe opportunities like this should be accessible to all students. I am grateful to the Bennett Fellowship for covering the cost of my plane tickets to and from study abroad and encourage all other International Studies majors going abroad to look into it if you could benefit from the scholarship.

I want to thank my family and friends for encouraging and supporting me every step of the way, I couldn't have done it without you all! A special thanks to my close friend and teammate Caroline Derringer for studying abroad in Oulu this semester too and being my travel buddy. It is always good to have a friend, and I am so happy to have had this experience with you. Growing and learning together has been a pleasure.

I am very grateful for the support from my teammates and coaches to pursue this opportunity and cannot wait to be back in Chestertown in the spring to compete with my team and get back out on the water together! They always push me to be the best version of myself, and I hope to bring what I learned during this time back to them.

If you are considering studying abroad, I cannot stress to you how important it is to go! You will never have an experience like this to study and live in a different country after college. You gain so much through traveling, and studying abroad is an invaluable experience.