Lucia Kruize is a sophomore attending Morningside University in Sioux City, Iowa. Unlike most other students that attend Morningside, Lucia had to travel across the world to attend her classes. She is from Jaegerspris, Denmark. After taking multiple flights, navigating airports, and sitting through boring layovers, Lucia said that it can take anywhere from thirteen to twenty hours to make the trip from Denmark to Sioux City.

Lucia was originally motivated to travel to the United States to pursue soccer opportunities. She usually plays striker or winger, and has found her place on the Morningside Women’s Soccer Team. While her initial motivation was soccer, Lucia figured that it would be beneficial to study and take classes while living in the United States. She is currently majoring in Mass Communications, because she has an interest in journalism and she is learning skills that can be applied anywhere in the world.

Lucia said that she was mainly surprised by the major cultural differences between Denmark and the United States. She said the food is much different, and people in the United States are usually nicer and less blunt than people at home. While she said that she thinks people in the US tend to be more friendly, she also thinks that they act more fake than people in Denmark.

After living in the United States for her entire freshman year, Lucia has visited eight states. She still really wants to see Michigan, because she appreciates the nature, and thinks it is a very underrated state. She could take her time and enjoy herself there without worrying about large crowds and too many tourists.

With the experiences Lucia has had living in the United States and traveling across the world to play soccer and attend school, she would highly recommend studying abroad. She said that you definitely need to prepare yourself for the cultural changes you will experience, but through studying abroad she has learned so much more about herself and the world, and she would recommend that experience to anyone.