Solomon Oritz once said, “Education is the key to success in life, and teachers make a lasting impact in the lives of their students.” For this reason, a woman named Lynn Van Beersum had chosen to leave her native land of Nijmegen, in The Netherlands to further herself on her journey to education in the United States of America.

Lynn Van Beersum came to Farmville, Virginia in order to expand her knowledge of the English language. Her aspiration in life is to become an English teacher and be able to teach English as a second language back in her home country. After a long and thorough interview with her, I have concluded that she had accomplished exactly that, and had a wonderful experience while doing so.

Lynn taught me and the friends she made during her time in Virginia that even in the most extreme and different circumstances, even with factors such as homesickness and language barriers, it’s possible to learn from your experiences and come out the other end happier than ever before.

Lynn spoke fondly of her native country. She spoke highly of her friend and family, the various customs that she was used to and her life at school. She spoke about how every day she would bike to the train station and take a 15-minute train into Nijmegen in order to attend classes at her university (whose name roughly translates to University of Nijmegen). She would go through her classes in her day to day life and be social with friends and classmates at shops in town after school or in between classes. Her life at home was peaceful, she lived with her mother and father where they would live a quaint life, watching Dutch reality TV shows and eating various meals that she spoke fondly and proudly of. Occasionally she would go out to visit her sister and her fiancé. She typically got to do this when she was coming home from her weekend job of being a youth’s gymnastics coach since her sister’s house was on the route she would take back home from work.

When I asked Van Beersum why she had come to the United States, she said “because it was obligated. It was a mandatory part of my education, i’m studying to become an ESL (English Second Language) teacher, and a semester abroad in the third year is obligated. I really badly wanted to go to America because I’ve never been before, and I saw it as a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience the college life in a new perspective”

The first thing that Van Beersum noticed about America was the lack of public transport compared to The Netherlands.  “Everybody either takes a bike or public transport to go anywhere. Not a lot of people even own their own cars where I’m from” she said when I picked her up from the airport after she was gazing out across the long line of personal vehicles in the arrivals pickup zone.

Although she experienced culture shock a variety of different times through the learning of American slang and colloquialisms and finding out that people unironically support Donald Trump, Lynn was very quick to assimilate herself into the culture here. She made friends very quickly and within her first two weeks had found a small group to attend a rock concert with, in Richmond.  Lynn had picked up on a lot of American slang and culture, and eventually started speaking English with a very slight southern accent, which was amusing to not only me but to her and her many friends around her.

When asking Lynn if she felt like she had felt like a member of American society and if she had found what she sought after here, which was an education in the English language and a positive American college experience, she simply answered “absolutely.”

Lynn Van Beersum came to America as a shy, slightly awkward Dutch girl with dreams of being proficient in the English language and finding a positive and uplifting American college experience. She left with so much more than that. Lynn left with so many friends that it was difficult for her to say goodbye to them all. She left feeling more independent than ever before, since this was the first time she had ever lived away from home. And finally, she left with the ability to speak English so fluently that she eventually ended up correcting mine and her classmate’s grammar.
If we all just take the time to appreciate and learn from the situations we’re placed into, I think we can all have experiences as positive as Lynn’s.