Written by: Jordan Brown | Fall 2023
BU Exchange at University of Zurich
To my younger self,
You celebrated your twentieth birthday on July 14th. On September 1st, you were on a plane heading to Switzerland to spend four months studying in Zurich. Trust me, I am just as shocked as you are, but this is one of the best decisions we have ever made. As I write this, I realize we have much to catch up on. I should write to you more often! Anyway, here is what you need to know. We began our junior year of college at the University of Zurich.
I am writing this letter because we’ve been abroad for three months and have one month left to go! Zurich Altstetten is the suburb we’ve called home, situated just ten minutes outside of the city center, which is home to Lake Zurich, where we spent many days eating gelato and staring at the insane beauty it has to offer. These three months have been full of spontaneity, learning, and growth.
I had no expectations of this study abroad experience, which sounds strange. No matter how hard I tried, I could not envision myself in Switzerland. I had no idea what I would do or who I would be. With that in mind, I took the next logical step of paragliding over the Swiss Alps within a week of being there. Anyone who knows me knows that I would NEVER do this. Out of everything I could have done in my first week abroad, no one, not even myself, could think of this. But even though this was an extreme example, it set the tone for the rest of my study abroad experience. I realized this was a unique time in my life, and I wanted to make the most of it. This meant saying yes to almost everything, within reason, of course. I err on the side of caution, to my detriment at times. I steer clear of opportunities that make me uncomfortable. I realized this approach was invalid given that I was more than 4,000 miles away from home with just my good friend Rylie and me for the next four months, so I should lean into this new experience and let it propel me forward. It is not about making reckless decisions; it’s about the principle of challenging things holding you back.
I was eager to learn more about and immerse myself in Swiss culture, which included a lot of looking and listening. I felt like my head was on a swivel for the first few weeks. There was so much to see, hear, and do. Something that I did prior research on but definitely saw in action was Sunday being an actual day of rest. This was something I had to see to believe, but I was interested to see what this concept would look like. To my surprise, almost all of the stores are closed, and those that are open, mostly grocery stores, have shorter hours and do not have the full selection. Most people spend their Sundays hiking or spending time with their families. It is considered rude to make a bunch of noise on Sundays, including vacuuming, renovations, and bumping around. My Sundays became actual days because what I usually do on Sundays (grocery shopping, cleaning, and studying) became things I had to start doing during the week. If I wanted to take advantage of the outdoors, I needed to keep my Sundays relatively open.
Something else I noticed was that people appreciate where they are. On one of the first few nights I was there, there was a beautiful sunset over the lake, and everyone, locals and tourists, got up to take pictures and sit outside. A waiter raved about Zurich’s mountain, Uetliberg, while we were at dinner, wrote it down for us and gave us the location. Classmates recommended good hiking spots and towns to visit. Everyone just took pride in the city, which is something I am not good about when I am at home. It was a reminder to appreciate where I am. I started thinking about how I would describe Indiana to those who asked and began to speak more positively.
University life is a bit different. The University of Zurich is spread out across the city. I usually take the train or the tram to get between different buildings. It requires more time management than being at Butler, where everything is close together. Each class is only held once a week, which is different from Butler’s twice a week. The style and size of the classes are similar to Butler’s in that they are small and seminar style. Something that was confusing to me initially, but it quickly became one of my favorite parts of the class was everyone knocked on the tables to thank the professor when the class was finished. It is like applause. It is something fun to do, and it shows the professor that we appreciate them, their time, and their expertise.
My time in Zurich is ending, but I intend to 
make the most of my last month here. There are twenty-six cantons in Switzerland, like states. As you know, I have never met a checklist that I have not completed, so we are halfway through all the cantons, and I fully intend to reach twenty-six. I have had the opportunity to visit five different countries (Italy, Germany, Austria, France, and Liechtenstein) and have loved every moment of roaming the streets of small towns and villages. This experience has proven that I can be an adult, as silly as that sounds. I was able to test drive a new life and grow as a human. I am grateful for the enormous confidence I have gained over these past few months and the lasting memories I have made. I will say “see you later” to Zurich because I know I will return.
You grew up to be pretty cool 🙂
Love,
Jordan ‘23