Peer Advisor Highlight

Last but not least, we highlight Peer Advisor Aubrey! 

We hope you've enjoyed our International Education Week show of appreciation for our fantastic Peer Advisors! Stop by the Office in the Student Activities Building to meet them in real life!

Aubrey Sitler - Dual Master's student in Social Work and Public Policy

1. How has your international experience influenced your life academically and professionally?

Every time someone asks me this, I think of what I'm pretty sure is an Albert Einstein adaptation of an old adage: "The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know." Global engagement feels like this kind of intellectual, personal, and cultural curiosity to me, and this translates directly into my academic and professional life. My experiences studying, working, and traveling overseas have taught me more about who I am, what drives me, and what I believe to be worth working for than anything else in my life. I can confidently say that without various encounters in Spain, India, and Argentina, I would not currently be pursing graduate degrees in public policy and social work. International experience has become inextricably linked to who I am and what I do.

2. Would you recommend traveling internationally to other U-M students? Explain.

Absolutely. It can teach you so much about what you want out of life and how you fit into a larger global context, if you go into it with an open mind, humility, and a willingness to step out of your comfort zone. The people you meet -- whether in hostel bunk bed above you, on overbooked RyanAir flights, in the community in which you live, or elsewhere -- have the capacity to expand your worldview in specific ways that I have never experienced in a classroom.

3. Tells us about one place you are dying to visit! Why?

Indonesia -- While I was doing a social work field placement in Australia this summer, one of my clients was from Borneo. She talked frequently about how much she missed it, how delicious the food is, how beautiful the islands are, and how much she preferred the culture, language, and lifestyle. All of this inspired me to want to visit. (Plus, let's be honest: Bali sounds and looks like the most incredible/culturally thriving place EVER.)

4. What is your travel motto?

"You do you." You want to spend your summer in Buenos Aires traveling to new places every weekend? Do it. You'd prefer to eat your way through Paris and never leave the confines of the city while you spend a semester there? Fantastic You plan to spend your time in Salamanca memorizing the interior of its every bar and chupiteria? Be safe! (XOXO, -Mom/Dad) But "you do you." Always.

#youdoyou #mgoabroad