Editor's note: Penn State Abington students graduating this May are sharing their Abington Experience, the roadmap that is launching them from campus to career. Each vignette will focus on a pillar of the Abington Experience: Brief academic travel, internships, research with faculty and leadership development.
ABINGTON, Pa. — Soon-to-be Abington alums Lauren Berg and Natalie Sylvester reflected on the impact of enrolling in a combined eight courses with required academic travel — possibly a campus record. The students were led by experienced faculty, and at their destinations, they connected with industry professionals and other college students.
Berg and Sylvester, who became travel buddies, will wrap up their final course next month with 10 days in Poland, studying its complex history through a psychological lens. Their previous travel focused on business, technology and social science courses.
Lauren Berg
Major: Criminal justice
What's next? Law school to pursue a career as a civil rights attorney, a path she solidified through her internship with the federal U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in Washington, D.C., and more travel.
With study in Poland ahead and Scotland and Germany in her rear-view mirror, Berg said she is still struck by the shift in perspective from experiencing new cultures, examining real-world issues and diving into history.
“Even when the programs weren’t directly tied to my major, navigating new environments pushed me to grow both academically and professionally,” she said. “It gave me a strong sense of independence and confidence. I came back realizing the world isn’t as intimidating as I once thought, but something I’m ready to step into.”
Berg signed up for the design thinking course in Germany to boost her technology skills.
“This course highlighted for me how technology cross-references with my major and minor, and how you need all sorts of skills and all sorts of people to solve problems,” she said.
She was also struck by the contrasts between the American and German mindsets and higher education systems.
"In America, we’re given step-by-step instructions, and in Germany, the students are given a task and expected to follow through and figure it out on their own,” she said. “It was hard, but now we’re working that way here."