Page 24 - Inventing Tomorrow

“I was planning to have an internship that summer. Being able to do it abroad, I was able to check off two things from my to-do list, and now I won’t have to delay my graduation
at all.” — SAMUEL FINNEGAN
After completing a May session Global Technical Seminar, mechanical engineering student Sam Finnegan traveled to Macedonia to work as an intern through the International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experiences (IAESTE) organization.
World War II and had been left as a memorial. It was incredibly moving.”
“The trip was a wonderful opportunity to grow as a person and as an engineering student. The knowledge and independence you gain from traveling can never be taught in a traditional classroom,” Harper said.
Samuel Finnegan: From Minnesota to Macedonia
Last year, Samuel Finnegan, a senior in mechanical engineering, signed up for May session “Mechatronics in Switzerland” Global Technical Seminar. “When I signed up for that class I decided I wanted to stay in Europe longer than three weeks,”
he said. So he applied for a summer internship through IAESTE United States, an international organization promoting intercultural exchange between students in STEM elds across the globe.
He got an offer—from Saints Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, the capital of Macedonia.
Yes, Macedonia, a country barely a tenth the size of Minnesota with only two million people. “Honestly, I didn’t really know anything
about Macedonia,” said Finnegan.
“I knew it was in the Balkans. I knew Alexander the Great ruled it at one time, and that it used to be part of Yugoslavia. So I thought, why not be adventurous?”
“Instead of ying back to the United States with the rest of the group, I ew to Macedonia," Finnegan said.
running on about four hours of sleep. That’s essentially the situation we were in. Yet, it was freeing because
in getting lost, I saw many things I otherwise wouldn’t have noticed, like architectural details and small local restaurants,” Harper said. “It made us all think about how much technology helps us day to day. I never realized how much I rely on things like my map app when I’m in a new place.”
While wandering around the city on that rst afternoon, they came upon a church steeple cloaked in scaffold- ing. It turned out to be the Church of St. Nicholas, whose 482-foot steeple survived World War II.
“We were able to go up into the bell tower and get a bird’s-eye view of the entire city,” said Harper. “We also saw sections of the church that had been left standing after bombings during
24 INVENTING TOMORROW
RICHARD G. ANDERSON