Beth Ann Muellner: Professor of German

“Trust yourself to be bold; never stop learning.”

Where I Went:

Austria, Spain, Morocco, Germany

Why I Went:

Spent junior semester in Graz, Austria; lived in Berlin, Germany for five years between undergrad and grad school

What I Learned:

After my semester of study abroad, when a friend with whom I had planned to travel through Europe and North Africa bailed on me, I decided to go it alone—long before ATMs, portable computers, or smart phones existed. I met people along the way. That experience gave me the courage to move to Berlin, Germany after college. I laughed when my dad said: “we’ll have to visit you before the wall falls.” I never thought I would be living there when this historic moment occurred in November of 1989. I learned to be resilient and open to change and the unexpected; I learned about Europe, but I also gained great insight into my own identity and privilege.