Lake Forest Park student studies abroad in Austria

Joleen Ackerson of Lake Forest Park is among 55 Linfield College students participating this fall in a Linfield study abroad program.

Ackerson, a senior, is majoring in international business with minors in music and French at the McMinnville, Oregon college. The daughter of Dave and Kim Ackerson of Lake Forest Park, she is a member of the Linfield lacrosse team and choir. Ackerson is studying intensive German at the University of Vienna in Vienna, Austria, as well as taking courses at the Austria-American Institute of Education. She lives with an Austrian host family and is learning about Austrian culture and history in the city that was home to Mozart, Haydn, Freud and Strauss.

The Linfield College study abroad programs are designed for students who have completed one or two years of study in the appropriate foreign language (Japanese, Spanish, French, Chinese or German) at Linfield and who will return to the college to share their international experiences with others in the campus community. Linfield also offers study abroad opportunities in locations where foreign language is not required, such as Hong Kong, Ireland, England, Korea, Norway, Australia, Austria and New Zealand, where students may choose courses taught in English.

The curriculum includes language instruction as well as studies in the culture, politics, economics, history and art of the country. The program is open to sophomores, juniors and seniors, and selection is made on a competitive basis. Linfield covers the cost of the first round-trip airfare when students qualify. Students pay regular Linfield tuition and a program fee.