So many engineering students think study abroad is too difficult. University of Florida students Katarina Jurczyk and Oyetunji (Tunji) Oyewole are proof that it can be done. They are both taking engineering classes at the HAW Hamburg in Germany, but when it came to study abroad their paths were different: computer science major Katarina was born in Germany but moved to the US with her parents when she was a baby. As the oldest child of German-American parents, Katarina grew up speaking German at home and visits family in Germany every year. Study abroad was high on her agenda, so she went to the UF Education Office in her first semester. She had heard about a summer programme in China and ended up spending two semesters in Shanghai to improve her Chinese. Bitten by the study abroad bug, she looked at more options and chose the HAW Hamburg exchange programme for her next adventure. 'My study abroad advisor highly recommended it.'
Tunji was born in Florida of Nigerian parents, who came to America to continue their college education. He also has relatives in England and he loves to travel there to visit. For Tunji studying abroad was a dream and he thought it would remain a dream. 'I thought as an engineer it would be difficult to get credit for my classes at home. My double major in mechanical and aerospace engineering is already five years long. I didn’t want to delay graduation,' he remembers. But now in his senior year he has taken the plunge, because the classes in Hamburg can be transferred to his programme at UF. 'My Dad encouraged me. He reminded me that he had done something similar when he was 19.'
