Haste Ye Back

Friday, December 1, 2017

Jack Drummond’s family has lived in Oklahoma for several generations. In fact, they have been in Oklahoma since before it was even a state. The family bought their first ranch land in 1907, but began leasing land in Hominy, Oklahoma, during the 1880’s.

Jack is now a senior majoring in animal science with a production option at Oklahoma State University. When he made the move to Stillwater to begin college, he already knew he wanted to follow in his family’s footsteps by taking a study abroad trip.

“I did a lot of research myself,” said Jack. “My father pushed me to study abroad. I’m the youngest of four, and two of my older siblings have studied abroad and they both recommended it, too.”

Oklahoma State University offers study abroad programs to locations all across the world. Choosing a location might be difficult for some, but Jack knew exactly where he wanted to go.

“My family is historically from Scotland, and I have wanted to go there my entire life,” said Jack. “It’s just a beautiful country, with pretty similar culture and customs to here.”

Jack met with his advisor to discuss what classes would transfer back to OSU. He also went to the Study Abroad Office to learn more about his options, which he found extremely helpful.

From January 2017 to June 2017, he lived in Edinburgh, Scotland, for his study abroad experience. His classes included macroeconomics and human geography.

“I’d never thought about human geography,” said Jack. “That course kind of opened my eyes to even more cultures and customs and the world that is out there.”

Jack found that once he was in Europe, it was easy to explore Scotland and to travel to other countries.

“My favorite part of the trip was the ability to travel,” said Jack. “I had classes throughout the week, but every Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday I would be able to travel. I went from Iceland to the Czech Republic.”

When traveling, Jack would take a flight out of Scotland, then take a train, bus, or rental car to his destination.

“At one point, I traveled a full month without returning to my dorm room, living out of a backpack,” said Jack. “On that trip, I took a flight to Geneva, Switzerland, wound up in Rome, Italy, traveled to Frankfurt, then Heidelberg. From Heidelberg, I took a train to Zurich, then continued down the line to Innsbruck, Austria. Once in Austria, I went to Triol, went through Liechtenstein, and then back to Switzerland. Then I took a 10 hour bus ride to France. From Paris, I flew to London and stayed a few days, then back to Edinburgh.”

By the end of his study abroad trip, Jack had visited 13 different countries, including Iceland, Ireland, Wales, England, Scotland, and Austria. Most of his traveling was done alone, but he was also able to travel with friends he met along the way.

“I always found it very easy to meet new people,” said Jack. “Often times, I would travel to a city on a whim, find a hostel to stay in, then make friends with my roommates and travel throughout the city with them.”

Jack would travel with the people he met for the duration of a trip, but in some of his travel companions he found life-long friends. “In Iceland, my roommates and I became tight-knit. I still keep up with each of them today,” said Jack. “Two are Americans, two are Dutch, two are from Belgium, one is from Germany, and one is from Spain.

“Other than that experience, I was never shy to meet new people and include them in my travels. I found that people in Europe and people in the U.S. are very similar, despite different languages and cultures, and when you give them a chance, they will not disappoint you or try to exploit you.”

Though he enjoyed all of his travels, Jack did have a few favorite places.

“If I had to move outside of the United States, I’d move probably to Ireland,” said Jack. “It is one of the most beautiful countries I’ve ever been to. It is green, has nice people, and just an awesome culture. After that, probably Iceland, except for it’s pretty cold.”

Jack said he would highly recommend a study abroad trip.

“I think everyone should try their best to do it,” said Jack. “It’s well worth the investment.”