Andrea Myers majored in Spanish and minored in art history and foreign studies and spent the 1986-87 academic year in Toledo, Spain. She graduated from the U of M in 1988.

The importance of study abroad was imparted on Andrea at a young age by her mother, who spent time living in Germany in the early 1960s. Andrea spent the summer of 1984 in Bogota, Colombia, on an American Field Service program. With that experience behind her, she was eager to explore more of the world. “In college, I wanted to see Europe, and I decided the best way to do it was to be there for a year and combine it with my studies,” she said. “That was the perfect time—before you got tied to a job and other responsibilities.”

Between her studies and the included program excursions to Portugal and Andalucia, Andrea explored other parts of Spain, as well as France, Italy, and Greece. She continued her travels for two months at the end of the academic year, riding the rail lines through France, England, Holland, Belgium, Germany, and Denmark. “It was a great time,” she said. “So eye-opening and educational, both for what I learned about history and the places I was in, and for what I learned about myself.”

After graduating from the U of M, Andrea returned to school to study interior design, and she now works for a large corporation as a commercial interior designer. She is part of a team that builds and manages all the corporate properties the company owns—including international locations. She recently completed a project in Shenzhen, China, to relocate 250 staff to a new office building.

“I absolutely have always been drawn to any work that has any international aspect to it,” she said. “This interest directly resulted in my current responsibilities, as my supervisor was aware of [my international interest], and once the opportunity was there, he knew I would be a good candidate for the position.”

More than twenty years may have passed, but Andrea’s time abroad continues to have a profound affect on her. Her Spanish language skills have stayed with her and so has the spirit to explore. “My experiences abroad have really shaped my outlook on the world, given me an insatiable curiosity to know the world, and a terrible case of wanderlust!” she said. “I am interested in talking to people from other places and finding out about them, something I probably would have been too shy to do without having traveled and lived abroad. I much prefer to celebrate differences rather than be skeptical or fearful of them.”