ADVENTURES AT FRANKLIN

The winter holiday season in Europe can be so magical and Franklin students are lucky to be immersed in it for a few weeks before the semester ends. Lugano may not be a big city, but its tree is the largest one I have seen yet!!  It dominates the city's main piazza, towering above the nearby buildings! Curious about how it arrived in this, not too large, town square? Well by helicopter of course! Scroll to 1:00min and check the video out HERE as captured by a local news crew!  We take holiday tree installation very seriously here in Switzerland :)  Lugano also has the most delicious food stands spread across the city during the winter holidays. For eighteen years of my life I was missing out on the warm and yummy goodness that is a roasted chestnut. Sure, during the holidays I would sing THIS carol with the phrase "chestnuts roasting on an open fire", yet I never realized that people still ate chestnuts.. I don't know what my deal was, but I thought that

Why hello there! Happy December! I can hardly believe that November is already over, where did the time go?? I have final projects due this week, final exams next week and then in 13 days I will be back state side for the holiday break! I can hardly believe it! November was filled with some awesome activities around campus too, here is just a brief recap: At the beginning of the month Franklin hosted its 5th annual Be The Change Social Justice Conference. In addition to a weekend retreat, the conference included a week of thought provoking activities open to all students. I was asked to speak on religious tolerance as part of an evening activity for one of the nights. We had some awesome discussions and I was so happy to participate! The theme of this years conference was "finding your roots" and all of the weekly events focused on this in addition to raising awareness and empathy in the community for a variety of social justice issues.  Shoutout to these lovely ladi

Wondering what it takes to get into Franklin? Wanting to find a school that is the right fit for you? Curious about student life? I've gotten a lot of admissions related questions this week, so I decided that a "prospective student frequently asked questions" post was in order! ^^ This is a picture I snapped today on my walk home from class, not particularly related to this post but if you were wondering what autumn looks like in Lugano, there is your answer! Academics At Franklin The travel opportunities are great, but they are FAR from everything Franklin Switzerland has to offer. Getting a university education abroad is much different than just living abroad for a year. Not only do students spend the academic year immersed in and exploring European culture, but Franklin also provides many educational opportunities which challenge students of all levels. I know I have grown academically over the last two years and learned much! What majors are offered at Fr

A little post about a little country today! Montenegro has (oddly enough) been on my bucket list for quiet some time now! It started out when Jay Gatsby told Nick Caraway that he carries around a medal that was awarded  for "Valour Extraordinary" during WWI by Montenegro. Then, when James Bond's Casino Royale was set in Bukva, Montenegro, my interest was only further piqued. All in all, it was not exactly what I expected [read: no Daniel Craig] but I am glad that I got a chance to add another stamp to my passport! Not to mention that I got to visit one of the world's newest countries. Montenegro only declared its independence from Serbia in 2006. Also, despite the long drive, I was not kidding when I said the country is little! Montenegro is about the size of Connecticut, meaning that you could fit 35 Montenegro's in the state of California!  To get to the old capital city of Cetinje we had to drive our bus onto a ferry (^^) and sail across a lake befo

What an experience! I loved visiting Sarajevo because it felt like I was taking a mini trip to Turkey! The turkish influence there is undeniable. Our hotel was located right next to the town bazar (turkish style market) with hundreds of shops selling handmade jewelry, hand woven rugs, spices, textiles etc. Not to mention that I had the best honey drizzled baklava of my life at a little street cafe here! I love the feeling of this city and its deep (albeit tragic) history. At one time it was a trade mecca, a principle stop on the Silk Route. In fact Sarajevo was so developed that it was the 2nd city in the world (after London) to get electricity in the 1890s. Unfortunately, several wars have nearly decimated the city. Most recently the Siege of Sarajevo (1992-1996) resulted in the destruction of 90% of the cities infrastructure. Reconstruction efforts are still going on today. In fact the week we visited they just were taking their first census since the war, a war which happened

HIGHLIGHTS: - visiting Josip Broz Tito's grave. Yugoslavian leader from 1945 -- 1980 - staying at a fancy hotel with famous guests!  - exploring the many areas of the city which still are scarred by the most recent wars in the 1990s  - meeting with staff at the OSCE's (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) mission to Serbia and discussing their goals. - standing on the very hill where clashes between Western and Eastern Empires occurred Serbia's aggression towards Kosovo lead to a NATO bombing campaign of 1999 which left the Serbian Foreign Ministry building (and many others) in shambles. That was more than a decade ago yet it stands today in more or less the same state it was in 1999, minus the trees.  Finally getting some use out of my passport pages! In the European Union and Schengen visa areas they rarely stamp your passport. But Serbia is not EU so I finally got a stamp! Although nothing will beat the border agent in Croatia who gave

Hello again! Today I am really in Bosnia, yesterday I was in Serbia and tomorrow I am heading back to Croatia. Is my Academic Travel trip crazy busy? Yes. Do I love it? Absolutely! I feel so blessed to have the chance to not only explore such a unique region of the world, but do so in a very unique way! Thus far we have met with economics professors, war veterans and former politicians. Like I said, it has been busy! So today I am going to talk about our first stop in Croatia...{drum roll} ZAGREB!  Fun Facts:  - While on our walking tour we passed by "The Museum of Broken Relationships"  We didn't get the chance to go in, but the tour guide explained to us that it accepts donations from around the world of leftover artifacts + letters from ex-relationships then tells their story. It is a  "unique" (noticing a theme here?) idea for a museum, to say the least. In fact it won "most innovative museum" in 2011.  - Zagreb develope

I am so pleased with this academic travel so far! It is only day three and I feel as though I already have had so many adventures! I don't have too much time to write now, as I have been busy exploring Slovenia and Croatia, but I thought I would share some photos from Ljubljana, Slovenia, our first stop on the trip!  Fun facts about Ljubljana:  - Capitol of Slovenia and largest city  - The dragon is the emblem of the city because, as legend goes, Jason (as in mythology's Jason + the golden fleece) killed a dragon in Ljubljana.  - home to the first philharmonics school in Europe  - entered into the European union in 2004  day+night with the dragon of slovenia  snapshots from our walking tour around town the group picture was taken in a former templar knights monastery while we listened to the guide explain some regional history autumn leaves kavalir = a FREE service you can call that takes you around the pedestrian only areas of Ljubljana. From w

I can't tell you what a relief it was to make it through this week! Midterm exams + papers + work = one rough week! But none of that matters now, because it is the best time of year here at Franklin! Academic Travel time!!! For this semester's academic travel I am enrolled in a course  which focuses on the recent history of the former Yugoslavia. Our travel group will be immersed in learning about the dramatic events of the 20 th   century that led to the formation of the Yugoslav state, to its tribulations during World War II, its relative stability during the period of the Cold War and its violent collapse in the 1990's.  The Civil War in Yugoslavia and its effects will be a main theme in meetings and discussions about the successor states and their problems today.  Economic problems, political problems and questions of law and order (such as the prosecution of those accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Civil War). Beyond visiting the classic sigh

some snapshots of my mom + me on our latest adventures Please excuse the short hiatus in my blogging, I promise there was a reason. In fact, it just might be the best reason ever: my parents were in town!! We had an incredible ten days together with a weekend in Paris, France + a few days in Lugano + the next weekend in Cinque Terre, Italy. It was their first time visiting me at Franklin and also their first time in Switzerland/Italy!  I still am in awe of how spectacular our trip was! I only missed two days of class total (worth it!) and was left with memories that will truly last a lifetime! But never fear, I will save most of that sapppy stuff for my personal blog . So without further adieu let me introduce you to my mother! Meet Amy Oglesby. Mother extraordinaire. Just to give you a little background; I am the oldest of nine children (the youngest is seven years old), my family currently resides in Salt Lake City and my mom is too modest to admit it, but she is pretty much

Anyone who has read more than one blog post should know by now that I can't say enough about the educational value inherent in traveling. I love travel! And I truly believe that the cross-cultural exchange, communication skills, plus the flexibility & adaptability it promotes is invaluable in today's world. But that being said, I also have a deep appreciation for the more "traditional" classroom style of education. My maternal grandmother and grandfather were both long time educators. She worked as a kindergarten teacher and he as a elementary/middle school principle for 30+ years. So the value of education was instilled in me at a young age and has only grown over the years. One of the major draws for me to attend Franklin was their academic program. I was excited by the thought of learning with professors/peers that hail from all across the world and the International Relations program seemed to be a perfect fit with my interests. Now that I am here, I