Sophie Grumelard is a research assistant to USIP Jennings Randolph Senior Fellow Donald Horowitz. Originally from Evry, France, she studied for a year at Sebastian River High School in Sebastian, Florida when she was 15. She has an undergraduate degree in management as well as a graduate degree in international business from University of Florida, and is currently a graduate student at American University studying international peace and conflict resolution. During her high school study abroad experience she learned English, played high school sports, and traveled extensively around the U.S. with other exchange students. In thinking about her experiences, she feels:
Discovering the differences and similarities between the American and French cultures made me understand how important it is to experience other cultures through first-hand interactions, in order to acknowledge differences without judging others. My experiences further inspired me to discover more cultures and motivated me to study abroad again in college, twice in South Korea and once in Poland.
Gretchen Sauvey is the senior knowledge management specialist at USIP. She has an undergraduate degree in political science and French from Marquette University and Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) from Catholic University in Washington, DC. While a student at Reitz Memorial High School in Evansville, Indiana she studied in Brest, in France’s Brittany region. She lived with a French host family, learned French, and traveled in the region. In reflecting back on the experience, she feels:
Jonas Claes is a program specialist in the Center for Conflict Management USIP. He is a native of Belgium. While in middelbare school (Flemish for “high school”) in Veerle-Laakdal, Belgium, Jonas studied abroad in Garden City, New York, attending Garden City High School. While in the U.S. he played soccer (or football as Europeans would say). In remembering his experience:
Jon Temin is director of USIP’s Sudan Program. As an undergraduate at Swarthmore College, he studied in Cape Town, South Africa, shortly after the downfall of apartheid. In reflecting on this experience, Jon says:
Celena Canode is a program assistant in USIP’s Academy of International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding and is a graduate student at American University in its International Peace and Conflict Resolution program. As a junior at Washington State University she studied in Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo, and Macedonia. In considering what she learned during her study abroad, she notes:
