Rebecca Olsho is a self-proclaimed travel fanatic and has visited many countries during her time at Drexel. She is a fourth-year undergraduate student studying International Area Studies and has spent time abroad in both Europe and South America.
The Triangle: Why don’t you start off by telling us about yourself.
Rebecca Olsho: I am a junior international area studies major concentrating in international business and economics and minoring in Spanish and marketing. I am a big fanatic of travelling and most of my time at Drexel has been abroad. Here on campus, I’m in Delta Zeta. I’m part of the Student Global Advisory Board. I’ve been involved with the Community Bridge Program, which helps with undergraduate ESL students who come onto campus, most of them are from China, so I’m working with them and the international student body. I’m all over the place!
TT: I read that you did research abroad in Greece. Tell us about your experience.
RO: I was a part of the STAR Scholars Program, which is sponsored by the Office of Undergraduate Research. They paid for me to go to Greece and do research with a Drexel University professor. I was living in Crete for about a month and a half to two months. A huge amount of natural gas was discovered pretty recently between Israel, Greece, Cyprus and Turkey, and I was looking at how each of those countries are dealing with it on a national sovereignty front. I ended up writing a super long thesis paper on it. It was like a hundred and some pages. That was crazy, but it was really interesting and cool.
TT: That trip was pretty early on in your college career. Did it help influence what you wanted to study?
RO: From a young age I was always interested in international travel and foreign languages. That’s why I’m in my program. Just in general, at Drexel I started out learning Spanish on my own before I started taking it in class and decided to pick it up as a minor. Then, I studied abroad in Chile last year, so I became pretty fluent. I did my past co-op in Italy, so I took some Italian before I went which was definitely beneficial and helpful. All of the opportunities I’ve had through my major have been great because I’ve been able to co-op abroad, study abroad, travel abroad, do the travel-integrated courses.
TT: What did you do in Chile and Italy?
RO: Chile was just study abroad. That was about six months and it was just me and one other kid. We were the first two to ever go through Drexel. I took all my classes in Spanish, roomed with a Chilean host family and got to do a lot of travelling all throughout South America.
In Italy, I worked at the World’s Fair at the USA Pavilion, which was under the U.S. Department of State where I was considered a student ambassador. There were about 60 students there from all over the world. I think between us we spoke like 20 different languages, so it was really crazy among everyone who I was with.
TT: You’ll be graduating in 2017. What are your plans post-Drexel?
RO: My dream life would be on the Travel Channel to go get paid to travel. Probably never ever going to happen, but we’ll see! I might apply to Fulbright, it’s also funded by government and it’s funded for up to a year of teaching English abroad. That’s something I’ve considered for after graduation. I’m not sure. I’m still deciding. I definitely have a lot of opportunities and things to think about. I think I’ve had a lot of good experiences that will help me in whatever I decide to do. I think with knowing French, Spanish, a bit of Italian, and hopefully Mandarin will definitely get me pretty far in whatever I choose.
TT: Sounds like you have done a lot in your time at Drexel. What is something you will miss after you graduate?
RO: I think the friendships I’ve made. As much as I have been abroad, I definitely have a group of good friends and people here who have always been super supportive. Whether it be in my major or sorority, I always have people to be like, “OK, let’s go explore some random cool restaurant in Fishtown!” Also, I like learning in general and all of the classes I have had the opportunity to take over the years.
TT: Okay, fun question! If you could have coffee with anyone in the world, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
RO: Leonardo DiCaprio! I’ve literally had a crush on him since I was four years old when I saw him in “Titanic.” I have a really weird obsession with The Titanic. You have no idea! I’ve had “Titanic” birthday parties growing up and made my whole family dress up in 1912 attire. Definitely him. Always been obsessed with him. If I ever see him, I will be a major fan girl.
TT: Last question: You have travelled to a lot of places, but what is one place you haven’t gone to yet that you really would like to visit?
RO: I just booked a spring break trip with my friends to Iceland. I am super excited about that, but if it’s a trip I don’t have booked yet it might be Thailand or Cambodia. Somewhere in Southeast Asia. If I get China, my plan is to backpack through Southeast Asia– that is definitely on my bucket list.
