Name: Devon Rezac
Major/Minor: B.S. in Global Studies, and B.S. in Nutrition Health Science.
Minors in Spanish and German
Hometown: Ashland, NE
Year at UNL: Senior
Why Global Studies? It was as a young child that some of my earliest desires to see the world began to take root. My favorite gifts came from my uncle after he had returned home from another tour abroad. He was a member of the United States Airforce for 25 years and every time he went abroad he always made sure to bring me home various forms of the local currency along with the stories of his time abroad. It was through this seemingly innocent gift that I was given my first real opportunity to touch another part of the world and want to discover what it was like to live in these faraway places.
As a first generation college student the advice I was given when trying to decide on a major was to follow what you love. Well I knew two things: I loved food, and I loved travel. I declared a major in nutrition health science and minors in Spanish and German, but it was through the addition of the global studies major during my second year that I found a major that would allow me the freedom to enrich, and focus my interests into one central pursuit. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the global studies major I am able to apply everything I was learning for my global studies degree to the classes that I was taking to receive my nutrition science degree. I have a declared regional emphasis in Europe, as well as specializations in both human rights, and culture and society.
What are some of the best/most interesting classes you’ve taken? I have truly enjoyed all of the classes I have taken here at UNL, but if I would have to pick I would say my two favorite classes I have taken were sociology of race relations, and the honors course think global: mentor local which gave me the opportunity to understand the current racial issues we face in our modern age, and then be able to work with a non-native Spanish speaking student where I could then apply what I have learned in that class to better serve my mentee in all his needs.
What are your suggestions for new Global Studies majors? My suggestion for new Global Studies majors is to choose classes based on what you like. Follow your passions and continue to pursue them while you are here. The Global Studies major is a great program because it gives you the opportunity to take a variety of classes and really explore a large number of subjects, and you should definitely take full advantage of that.
Tell us about your study abroad/internship experience. This previous summer I was fortunate enough to spend six weeks traveling across the beautiful country of Ethiopia. The focus of our study abroad was to conduct research on food security, nutrition, and health which are my exact interests and happened to be a perfect program for me to be a part of. We traveled as far north as the famous rock-hewn churches of Lalibela a UNESCO world heritage site, and as far south as the southern nations, nationalities, and people’s region to visit the local pastoral tribes of southern Ethiopia. Our day to day experiences were constantly on the go, and we were working non stop as we had a lot of work to accomplish if a very short amount of time.
We had the opportunity to conduct both dental assessments, as well as anthropometric assessments at local schools. We visited local markets to assess quality and access to food. Visit health post and hospitals. But the most impactful aspect of the study abroad was having the opportunity to conduct our own individual research on a top of our choice. To conduct this portion of the research we went on home visits with the help of a local university student who acted as our interpreter and would relay the questions and answers back and forth as we sat with these families in their homes and learned what their day to day life was like for them. We were taught how to cook, and how to plow fields, we learned how to fetch water and most importantly how to harvest coffee beans. This trip was one that changed my life and helped reinforce my love for all this world has to offer us.
What are you post-graduation plans? Post-graduation, I am looking into a number of masters programs in global health, as well as looking at either teaching abroad in Spain, S. Korea, and the Czech Republic, or joining the Peace Corps and working on food security and health. I am very interested in human rights and I believe that access to quality food, nutrition, and health care should not be impacted by the place that a person is born and I would like to continue to work to eliminate these.