For the first Postcards from Abroad of the spring semester, we travel to Switzerland, where Madison Forrest of the volleyball team is studying. She is a public health major and has been enjoying her time overseas.

What classes are you taking? Which class is your favorite?
I'm at SIT's Global Health and Policy Development in Geneva, Switzerland. And I'm taking Perspectives of Global Health, Development Policy and Health, Research Methods and Ethics, and French 1! My favorite, by far, is Perspectives of Global Health - the program is untraditional as we don't have one single professor for each course, but rather experts from a variety of different organizations give lectures in their field of work. I've gone to the World Health Organization (WHO) to listen to a professional working on non-communicable disease prevention (like cardiovascular disease), Doctors Without Borders (MSF) to hear to a pediatrician's work with vaccination in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Red Cross and Crescent Society (ICRC) to hear to a historian discuss Geneva's role as the center of humanitarian aid. I also listened to a professor from the University of Geneva examining how to prevent hate and genocide and how that's linked to schoolyard bullying. Coming up, I'll be going to UNAIDS, StopTB, and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Have you been able to travel at all yet?
I've been able to travel locally in Switzerland. So I've visited Basel, Interlaken for hiking, Leukerbad for hot springs, and Morocco to examine Moroccan health approaches! Then I'm planning to go to Paris, Italy, and Nice, France.

How have you been training for volleyball while abroad?
I've been doing workouts and yoga on my own at my home stay house, but I definitely miss spring season, getting to play volleyball, and working on my skills to better my game every day! 

What is your favorite part of being abroad?
I love getting to see new things every day - touristy sites like famous castles, churches, or museums and non-touristy places that relate to my major like the World Health Organization or the United Nations.

What do you miss most about Muhlenberg?
I miss team meals in the dining hall! I love that any time I go into the dining hall, even abnormal meal times, there's someone from the team sitting around.

What made you decide to study abroad?
I knew that I wanted to study abroad before I knew which college I wanted to attend, and a huge advantage of Muhlenberg was that such a large portion of juniors study abroad - including athletes! Studying abroad is the one opportunity I'll have to live somewhere else in the world, experience a different culture and broaden my horizons. Hopefully, I'm able to translate what I learn here in Geneva to my studies at Muhlenberg and into my career once I've graduated!