Nebraska student finds Norway way different from home
UNO sophomore’s life was changed by her time in Norway.
While studying in Norway last fall, April Corbet was struck by the mannerisms and approaches people there had for simple, everyday routines.
The University of Nebraska at Omaha sophomore was intrigued with how Norway’s post offices, libraries and government offices operated differently. People never seemed to wait in lines.
She saw people biking on snow and ice. She saw children being pulled in pulks, or small toboggans.
At times, Norway seemed so different from Nebraska.
“These simple things made it an experience and affected how I saw the world and how I was going to continue living in it when I returned to the U.S. and came back home,” Corbet says.
In Norway, she helped write English articles for a student-run newspaper. She traveled with a university club to Italy. She also visited England, Ireland and Denmark during the semester.
“It opened up an entirely different world to me,” she says. “Studying abroad is eye-opening, especially for someone who has just grown up in Nebraska and not gotten to see much outside the country.”
Corbet, a graduate of Millard South High School in Omaha, is aware of the financial difficulties many students face when they go to college. The challenges of paying for tuition, books and rent can lead many students to miss out on great opportunities.
“Students are often too busy working during college to pay off their tuition and debts,” she says. “The sad reality about college is the monetary part. Unless you have scholarships, you can’t fully experience it. A lot of opportunities are opened if you do.”
Fortunately for Corbet, she received four years of educational support through the ConAgra-Mike Harper Leadership Scholarship, the Solutionary Scholars Scholarship and the UNO Chancellor’s Scholarship. These scholarships have allowed her to take full advantage of her education both at UNO and abroad while striving to complete a degree in English and philosophy.
While Corbet had a life-changing experience abroad, the Honors Program student also has been impressed by her coursework at UNO so far. Through the Synergy project, a universitywide initiative that encourages connections between disciplines, Corbet has gotten the opportunity to make inherent connections between her majors.
One of her first experiences at UNO was with an interdisciplinary course involving literature and philosophy.
“It really made an impression on me,” she said.
By the time Corbet is done with college, she knows she will have fully experienced it. She plans to obtain an information-technology internship and prepare for graduate school.
Above all, Corbet says, she knows she’s fortunate to have these experiences, which are hard to come by for many students.
“I’m just really amazed and really lucky that I have these scholarships so I can take advantage of opportunities.”
Scholarships are a top priority of the University of Nebraska’s current fundraising initiative, the Campaign for Nebraska: Unlimited Possibilities. Another of the campaign’s top priorities is to increase support for global engagement.
As the university pursues partnerships abroad, the high regard in which the university is held is apparent, and provides tremendous opportunities. Most important is that students like Corbet have opportunities to experience different cultures, gain understanding of the world and develop skills required to work in the global economy.
If you’d like to help the University of Nebraska’s global engagement efforts, please consider donating online or contacting the University of Nebraska Foundation at 800-432-3216.
