Study abroad is for me because...

I am a global citizen, and it has allowed me to live that and manifest that.

Senior finance major Jake Jones was raised in a family that loved to travel. It was this shared value that took Jake around the country as a child and also inspired him to study abroad twice during his time at Miami.

During his sophomore year, Jake spent spring semester in Luxembourg, studying at the Miami University Dolibois European Center (MUDEC). 

As of his senior year of high school, Jake has dual citizenship in the United States and Luxembourg, which he was able to get based on his heritage ties to the country. Between his strong connection to Luxembourg and Miami’s well-known campus there, Jake couldn’t pass up the opportunity to study at MUDEC.

“To me, finding a study abroad program in the very small country where my ancestors are from as soon as I came to Miami, that was obviously a no brainer for me,” Jake said.

One of his favorite parts of the program was the opportunity to travel to so many different European countries. At 22 years old, Jake has already been to 28 countries.

He also enjoyed the “European twist” that MUDEC professors added to the coursework, which not only helped him learn more about Europe during his trip, but inspired him to keep learning about it since he returned to the United States.

“It was very eye-opening, and I was able to learn so much more about Europe,” Jake said. “That has sparked so much in me to keep tabs on not just European culture, but geopolitics and things that are going on in the world, and I find myself almost everyday looking and searching in the news to find updates on all these things that are going on.”   

To finish his Spanish minor, Jake went to Peru during winter term of his senior year through Miami’s Integrating Spanish Language, Afro-Peruvian Culture and Service program.

Both of his study abroad experiences not only taught Jake about other countries and cultures, but about himself as well.

“The amount of independence that I gained, the amount of self-confidence, the amount of self-growth that I was able to gain out there is something that is unparalleled,” Jake said. “There’s no way that I would have been able to go through that and have that maturity so early on if I hadn’t done that and hadn’t gone out and been independent in a completely different context.”  

For Jake, studying abroad has helped affirm his identity as a global citizen, a concept that extends beyond his dual citizenship.

“Study abroad is for me because I am a global citizen, and I firmly believe that,” Jake said. “I love to learn about the world, and I think my view on life is so much farther reaching than within the borders of the United States.”

To students who want to study abroad, Jake says to embrace the experience, but also have an idea of what to expect beforehand.

“Know where you are going and what you are getting into,” Jake said. “Know the cultures you’re getting into, the customs you’re getting into, and know how to take the steps to immerse yourself completely in the culture, because the one thing I would always regret was if I would leave a place and feel like I didn’t really do that.”

But most of all, he encourages students to just go.

“I’ll say it a thousand times over—just go and experience it, and you will not regret it. I can guarantee you that,” Jake said.