Austria - Karina Gonzalez
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Karina Gonzalez (center) at the Schloss Belveder in
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Miami native Karina Gonzalez wanted to discover a different culture and a new way of life. Although she grew up in Miami’s melting pot and traveled to Peru and Spain with family, she craved the unknown.
Her opportunity came this past fall at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration. The junior accounting major took a variety of courses, some of which focused on the role of women in business. Occasionally she found the coursework less challenging than what she has become used to at the School of Business, but brutal scheduling often made up for lack of academic rigor. “One of my classes was only four days long, but it met from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. each day,” she explains. Easier classes allowed lots of time for sightseeing in Europe.
Gonzalez proudly lists the countries she visited and some of her excursions. “I went to Italy, Spain, Croatia, France and Switzerland,” she says. “It was super easy to travel anywhere in Europe; there’s a great public transportation system. I also went on a 12-day cruise all around Europe. I went skiing on the borders between Switzerland, France and Italy with new friends and some fellow University of Miami students.”
Making new friends in the Vienna University crowd was easy because there were so many American and Spanish students there. Gonzalez initially spoke no German, however, and that presented some challenges getting around the city — especially because there were no campus dorms, so students took trains and buses from resident homes. Viennese food— “all sausage meat and pastries,” she recalls — had her missing her mom’s menus of rice, beans and chicken.
Regardless of cultural differences, Gonzalez would do it all over again if given the opportunity. “I feel a lot more independent since studying abroad. It was my first time truly away from home,” she says. “I was able to learn about the business environment of a different country and speak to people who work in it. That taught me a lot.”
