Student Study Abroad Interviews: Ellie Hoffmeister

We caught up with Ellie Hoffmeister, ‘23, to learn about her experience studying abroad while at the College of Health! We discuss her time there, what she learned, her favorite parts, and how it impacted her understanding of health overall.  

Q: Where did you go abroad, and what program did you do?
A: I studied in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic through the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) program, so I was one of about 80 students. I studied in the Liberal Arts program there, but took many classes focused on health!

Q: How and why did you choose Prague?
A: I decided to go to Prague because it’s in central Europe, so I could travel to many other countries fairly easily. The Prague study abroad program is also smaller compared to other programs and counties, so I got to experience independent living abroad, and the cost of living in Prague is fairly affordable compared to other countries, so that also meant I could travel more while I was there!

Q: What classes did you take and what did you learn?
A: I took a variety of classes. Two were focused on art history, one was called “Families, Schools, and Child Development.” Another was “Czech Sports and Outdoor Culture,” and the last one I took was a comparative course called “Intercultural Communication and Leadership.” I thoroughly enjoyed all of these classes, since they gave me such a new perspective on a different culture. “Families, Schools, and Child Development” examined and compared parenting styles from the United States, among other countries, to those in the Czech Republic, both in terms of family dynamics and child development. In this class, we had one field trip a week, which was a great way to see the city and parts of the area that I might not have gone otherwise, and I got to learn while exploring! These field trips were also a great balance between studying and being abroad, as I didn’t feel like I was doing one more than the other. 

“Czech Sports and Outdoor Culture” was also a field trip-heavy class, with a strong emphasis on being healthy outside. We went into the city a lot and we always focused on doing activities related to sports. I learned about sport history and outdoor values. I learned that Czech people place a strong emphasis on the outdoors and being physically active in these environments, which related to a lot of the classes I’ve taken at Lehigh! 

The last class I took, “Intercultural Communication and Leadership,” was for my Marketing minor, and it focused on a cross-cultural analysis of the Czech Republic and the United States. We examined various frameworks that students used to compare different cultural dimensions and how they relate or don’t relate, such as the Hofstede framework. This ended up being a very beneficial class, it was the class with the heaviest workload. I loved this experience, since this class, and most others, weren’t available at Lehigh, so they allowed me to learn about Czech culture firsthand.

Q: What was your favorite part of being abroad?
A: Though I loved almost everything abroad, I narrowed it down to two highlights. First, I loved how I was able to make the city my home for the four months I was there. I created a routine for myself, found favorite local places, and adapted to city life as my new normal. Secondly, I really appreciated how easy it was to travel to a new place every weekend! Most of the flights I took were fairly quick, so it was pretty easy to explore other cities and countries. This was so amazing because you really can’t experience that anywhere else, especially back at school in the United States. In my case, many of my friends were also studying abroad, but dispersed throughout Europe, so this gave me the perfect opportunity to stay with many of them and explore their cities!

Q: Where was your favorite place you visited?
A: My first (and obvious) answer to this is Prague! My second favorite was Budapest. For many of the places I visited, how much I was able to experience was dependent on the weather, but Budapest was beautiful no matter what the weather was. I loved how walkable the city was, and how close I grew with other students in the program. Those of us staying in Prague were a smaller group, so it was nice being able to travel with new people I met!

Q: What cultural differences did you see?
A: This topic is something that my Intercultural Communications class focused on a lot! The biggest cultural difference I noticed during my time in Prague was how connected the community seemed. The United States is very individualistic and independent, while people in Prague seemed much more united, and everyone I met was very warm and welcoming. Prague was less money focused and more “in the moment,” as compared to the United States standard of wanting to make as much money as possible, and doing things as quickly as we can. The Czech lifestyle seems slower, people take their time enjoying everything, rather than rushing about everything, like we do in the United States.   

Q: How did this experience impact your understanding of health overall?
A: In my “Families, Schools, and Child Development” class, we took many field trips to different organizations in the city, mostly focusing on the Roma community. My classmates and I observed the many ways this community was disproportionately affected by outside factors, and how this marginalization affects their physical and mental health. One trip that stood out to me was a nonprofit boxing rink we visited, where kids could go and learn how to build their confidence. In addition to the physical exercise the kids participated in, there were extra mental health resources offered by the nonprofit. My final project in this class was to create a podcast looking at any topic our class had covered throughout the semester, and draw comparisons between the United States and the Czech Republic through that lens. I chose mental health for this, and found significant differences between both the rates of mental health disorders, the widespread stigma around mental health, and what support systems were available in these two countries.

Q: Do you have any advice to share with COH students going abroad, or considering going abroad?
A: My advice to College of Health students considering going abroad is to take advantage of the opportunity! For most people, there’s never going to be a better time where you can move to a new country, fully immerse yourself in a new city with new friends, people, experiences, food, language, and everything else while having minimal other responsibilities, like a job. There are also numerous scholarship opportunities available in every program and location, not just CIEE. Pick a place that seems interesting to you, unless you really need certain credits, and go, even if you don’t know a ton of other people going there! It’s possible to work with Lehigh’s requirements for almost every major, so truly, take advantage of this opportunity you have!