As an undergraduate at the University of Minnesota in the early 1990s, Bill Johnson came to the Learning Abroad Center seeking to broaden his study with an overseas experience. He applied for a Student Project for Amity among Nations (SPAN) program in Germany and was accepted. As a German major with a great interest in multicultural education, it was the perfect fit.
After attending orientation and preparing fully for his immersion into life in Berlin, Johnson hit a road block.
“I started to crunch the numbers and got cold feet,” he says.
With the burden of a large loan looming, he felt he couldn’t justify the cost of the program and backed out at the last minute after nearly a year of preparation.
“I have very few regrets about my undergraduate experience—I love the University of Minnesota,” Johnson says. “But the thing I do regret is not taking a loan, making it work, and going to Germany that summer.”
Luckily for Johnson, he would get another chance to study abroad. After graduating from the University of Minnesota in 1995, he worked for a few years, started a family, and eventually decided to attend law school at the University of Michigan. He was determined to make a study abroad experience part of his legal education and took advantage of an exchange program that sent him to the Netherlands during the fall semester of 2000. Accompanying him were his wife, Kathleen, who is also a University of Minnesota graduate, and their son, Billy, who was two years old at the time.
“It was incredibly rewarding,” he says. “As people who value diversity and cultural experiences, particularly foreign cultural experiences, it was very enriching for each of us. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Taking advantage of their time there, they traveled extensively, spending time in Germany, France, Iceland, Belgium, and Switzerland.
While it was the broadening of his personal experiences that spurred Johnson to study abroad, he explains that his professional life has also been enhanced by his study in the Netherlands—in ways that he never envisioned while he was abroad. As an attorney for the national law firm Foley and Lardner LLP, he specializes in international business transactions and uses his foreign language skills often.
“My language studies at the University of Minnesota and my study abroad experience have enabled me to pursue an international practice and have made me more effective at it,” he says.
In a recent example, Johnson found himself in a long, taxing negotiation in Central America where four languages—English, German, Portuguese, and Spanish—were spoken. It is during these kinds of international interactions that he feels he has a leg up.
“Studying abroad and having that international background allowed me to approach that situation well-prepared, and I was able to be more effective in representing my clients,” he said.
When Johnson learned that the University of Minnesota was conducting its annual fundraising campaign, he was reminded of the personal and professional benefits he gained from his study abroad experience and decided to contribute to the Learning Abroad Center Alumni Scholarship Fund to help students overcome the financial burden of studying abroad. Even though he wasn’t able to study abroad while at the University of Minnesota, Johnson gives back because he firmly believes that an international experience should be a part of an undergraduate education.
“It’s very unlikely that a student who studies abroad will regret it,” Johnson says. “On the other hand, not studying abroad could very well be something you will regret not doing.”
It’s the kind of experience that can help University of Minnesota students no matter what they study or what they choose for a career, he says.
Last modified on May 13, 2008 |
