Name: Emily Olsen
Major: Global Studies
Minors: Arabic
Hometown: Lincoln, NE
Year at UNL: Junior
Favorite book and why: Lord of the Flies by William Golding, because it gripped me start to finish when I first cracked it open the summer before high school. It’s a dark but crucial lesson about power dynamics and the human condition. The last page will stick with me forever.
Favorite movie and why: I have to choose The Grand Budapest Hotel. I attended the Lincoln Arts & Humanities Focus Program and we’d watch a film at the Ross Theater downtown most Fridays. This was the first Wes Anderson film I’d ever watched, and it completely blew me away. I’d never seen such
ambitious artistry, wit, whim, melancholy, unique humor, nostalgia, and detail fit in one screen.
It opened my mind to movies being art, the kind you can enjoy for both entertainment and inspiration.
Why Global Studies?
I chose Global Studies because it grants me the freedom to pursue the experiences I’m actually
interested in. I considered Cultural Anthropology, Geography, Political Science, History, Literature, and Sociology as majors before I realized Global Studies encompasses all of them. With its interdisciplinary nature, I get to dabble in each! Proficiency in a foreign language and studying abroad was also a personal goal for me, so the major requirements upheld that priority easily. Some of my favorite classes include Islam in/and America with Dr. Abla Hasan and Israel and the Middle East with Dr. Ari Kohen. For fledgeling majors, I’d suggest finding your niche. It’s easy to get distracted with all the directions GLST offers, and although I do encourage
reaching for as many opportunities as you can, also try to feel like an expert in some emphasis (a region, a country, a cause) so you don’t get lost!
Study Abroad Experience: I studied abroad my sophomore year with ISA in Meknes, Morocco for the Spring 2019 semester. I was able to focus on my region requirements and really dive into Arabic the whole semester, including a class on the local dialect of Darija (an Arabic/French hybrid). I danced the
night away at my host mom’s sister’s Moroccan wedding ceremony dressed in full traditional dress, watched the sunset and sunrise from a distant sand dune, marveled at the famous “blue city” of Chefchaouen, sipped a lot of sweet mint tea and fresh orange juice, climbed an Atlas mountain to a waterfall, learned how to confidently navigate and barter in the medina souq (market), and rode a camel under the Sahara night sky. Not every day was as magical as those experiences, but I truly felt immersed in the beauty and spontaneity of Moroccan culture the whole semester. Nothing beats pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and learning a
language while you’re abroad. My next adventure is CET Jordan, inshallah.
Post-Graduation Plans: Like most Global Studies majors, I have a lot of potential options for post-graduation! I know I’ll certainly be applying for a year-long internship serving in MENA with an organization called Cru. After that, I’d love to eventually return to Turkey where I spent a good amount of my childhood and regain my Turkish fluency there. It’d be really cool to combine my college Arabic language proficiency with my long lost first language, and use those skills working with an
immigrant or refugee NGO in a culture I miss dearly.