A Zeta Studying Around The World
Never leaving North America, Ashton Burger knew studying abroad was in her travel plans while she was a student at LSU.
Ashton has just returned from her spring semester studying at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. She loved her time traveling and learning new things, while also breaking out of her comfort zone.
While studying abroad, she was able to visit other amazing cities in Europe as well! We caught up with Ashton to hear all about her fantastic spring semester adventures.
Here is Ashton Burger throwing the Zeta Crown in Iceland!
Q: Where did you ultimately decide to study?
I studied abroad at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. I wanted to study in a city in the U.K. and with the bilateral tuition program that LSU offers (you pay room and board at the host university and pay LSU tuition and keep your scholarships). My top three were Glasgow, Manchester, and Brighton.
Ultimately, I decided Glasgow was the best fit for me due to the structure of the academic semester and the city interested me the most.
Living in the city center is really cool because I can walk to almost everything and the main train station and main bus station were both a 10-minute walk from my flat.
“I definitely recommend studying here. Scotland is beautiful and the people are awesome!”
Q: What was the deciding factor for you to study abroad during your junior year?
I had room in my schedule and I’ve never traveled outside of North America so I thought it’d be cool to see some of Europe! Also, I felt like it was time for me to break out of my comfort zone a little bit and experience new things.
Q: What types of classes were you able to take while at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow?
I took Scottish Politics, European Politics, and Journalism and Popular Culture. I chose Scottish and European Politics because I thought it would be interesting to learn about those subjects in their native environment. I chose Journalism and Popular Culture because I was interested in expanding my view on the subject.
“I got to meet students from all over the world, all with different perspectives on the topics covered in class. It was really incredible to hear all of these different opinions and I can confidently say that I have become more globally-minded.”
Q: What was the most memorable or valuable experience?
I actually have two favorite things: One was creating new friendships and the other was seeing so many different places.
One of my now best friends actually goes to LSU and is a Theta (PHC love!). She also grew up twenty minutes away from me and was friends with some of my friends during our freshman year but we had never met.
I also became really good friends with one of my flatmates who lives in Paris. I visited her twice and she showed me all around the city and introduced me to her friends. She’s one of the sweetest and funniest people I’ve ever met! I made friends from different states, Canada, Finland, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, and many other places.
Visiting new places was also really cool. I had never been out of North America prior to studying abroad so this was something I was really excited for. I got to go to Spain, Iceland, France, Germany, England, Ireland, Italy, and Monaco. The culture and the sightseeing in each of those countries were incredible.
Here Ashton is posing in front of the Eiffel Tower making all of us jealous!
“Something I’ve learned about myself is that I am VERY scared of birds. The ones in Glasgow are MEAN. They have as much nerve as LSU squirrels.”
Q: What is a funny story that you will remember forever?
My friend that I mentioned earlier, who’s a Theta at LSU, only studied abroad because I happened to be in the LSU study abroad office to meet with our advisor the same time as her. She was uncertain about going and went in to ask the advisor questions/see who else was going and the advisor directed her over to me while I was sitting in the lobby filling out forms.
We talked for a few minutes and texted before we left, then when we got to Glasgow we immediately bonded. We have so many cool memories together and the complete coincidence of being in the study abroad office at the same time, on a random weekday afternoon, gave me a best friend for life.
“We went to Iceland together, to Dublin for St. Patrick’s Day, and drank way too many Tim Horton’s iced capps.”
Ashton encourages not only her sisters, but all LSU students to travel and study abroad at least once during their time at LSU. She said that people from different places with different opinions is valuable, and she is grateful for that experience.
We are so proud of Ashton Burger for breaking out of her shell, and hope others will want to follow in her footsteps and also study abroad!