Student transfers to WMU for cultural exchange, plans trips to three countries
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Megan Garrett chose Western Michigan University (WMU) because the school promised to make it easy for her to traverse the globe. The transfer student from Ann Arbor places a high priority on intertwining travel and experiential learning. At the age of 20, she has already visited six countries.
WMU, she says, was her best option when considering schools. “I love how engaged the staff at Western is in making this an opportunity for students,” she says. “It’s been monumentally helpful for me. You can learn so much about yourself through study abroad.”
Garrett, who calls herself a “wanderlust child” and a “road trip kid,” will share her travel and education stories at International Education Week 2024: Internationalization on Campus and Beyond. She will speak at the “Global Social: Study Abroad Alumni Panel” on Wednesday, Nov. 20, at 2:30 p.m., in the Student Center, Room 2207.
“There is so much to learn at the global level, and if you get locked in on a certain thing or place, you miss out on so many opportunities and possibilities," she says. "It's exciting."
Garrett began her international journey right after high school when she enrolled with the private trip provider Verto Education and went to Turrialba, Costa Rica, for a semester. She says everyone at home told her not to go, that it might be dangerous in the Central American country. Yet Garrett found the opposite to be true.
Not only did she never feel unsafe, but the experience also gave her a self-confidence she hadn’t anticipated. “I realized I could do what I wanted to do and not be scared to do things that are different from what I know.”
She came back home 14 weeks later and immediately began thinking about her next trip while pursuing classes at community college. She enrolled at a state university near Detroit but couldn’t find the programmatic support she was seeking.
Garrett started to research other schools in Michigan. At Western, she could major in anthropology, pursue a minor in global and international studies and travel. The school’s Haenicke Institute for Global Education’s study abroad unit boasts 85 programs in 30 different countries.
“The opportunity to go out into the world and meet people on a global scale is an opportunity I couldn't pass up,” she says, while chatting about her travels recently in WMU's Student Center.
Garrett started at Western this fall and leaves for Florence, Italy, in January to study Florentine culture at the Florence University of the Arts.
Her hope is to stay in Europe through July and enroll in a summer archaeology field school abroad. She’s considering programs in Greece, Bulgaria and another Italian site.
Her plans don’t end there, however. She also wants to study abroad in the fall of 2025 and is considering a program in Edinburgh, Scotland.
“I'll be studying abroad for 50 percent of my time spent enrolled at WMU,” she exclaims. “It’s part of my identity. There is a lot of potential for me out in the world, and I don’t want to miss out.”
About
Western Michigan University’s Haenicke Institute for Global Education hosts International Education Week every year. Several events are scheduled from November 18-22 to celebrate global diversity and promote cross-cultural understanding. All events are free and open to the public.
Garrett’s panel, “Global Social: Study Abroad Alumni” is on Wednesday, Nov. 20, at 2:30 p.m. in the Student Center, Room 2207. Other sessions during the week are designed to support the more than 1,170 international students on campus and WMU’s 460 study abroad participants. A full schedule of events is at wmich.edu/globallearning/events. We hope you join us to foster a more globally engaged and inclusive Kalamazoo.
