What’s an important lesson you learned over the course of your life?

“I’ve learned a lot of patience. Just from starting college, but also from when I was a camp counselor. I can’t think of any specific instances right now, but I definitely had my patience tested as a camp counselor.”

What’s a philosophy you live your life by?

“I like to try to test myself and try new things. I studied abroad at the University of Lancaster in the UK last spring, and I specifically went for a direct enroll program over one that is hosted by Gustavus.

I definitely had a moment on the plane going over where I thought ‘Abby, what are you doing? You’re going to a foreign country, alone, where you know absolutely no one,’  but it worked out all right in the end.”

Has that experience changed you?

“Definitely! It also reinforced my philosophy: throwing yourself into something wildly new is a good thing to do at least once in your life. You get to learn a lot about yourself, it forces you to meet new people, and you get to try a lot of new things which is really, really cool.”

What sort of advice would you give to someone trying to do something different?

“Try not to say ‘no’ to anything, within reason of course. Know your limits, but also really try to step out of your comfort zone. I fought that quite a bit on day one of my trip abroad. I was in a new place and I was jet-lagged, so all I wanted to do was stay in bed and not go out all day.

I also knew someone on the rugby team there who suggested that I join the Lancaster team and it was an exciting but also terrifying offer, since English rugby teams don’t mess around. But I did it all and I had tons of fun while doing it!”

Beneath The Crown was created by Nick Theisen (‘15). It is inspired by Humans of New York (HONY) and aims to bring the community of Gustavus Adolphus College closer together by providing the perspectives of the many different people who live and work at the school.