For Psychology major Josef Loeffler, a typical day includes learning about the European Union, exploring Brussels with classmates from all over the world, and working with mergers and acquisitions at the law firm for which he interns. Loeffler is the first McDaniel student to participate in the College’s new exchange program with Facultés Universitaires Saint-Louis in Belgium. Five McDaniel students will attend in the fall.

“Coming out to Brussels, I thought it would be hard to get around, and it would be intimidating to interact with the locals,” says Loeffler “But not only do a lot of people speak fluent English, they are very welcoming to Americans.”

Professors at the Facultés Universitaires Saint-Louis teach courses in English, Dutch and French. Rose Falkner, director of international and off-campus study, says the program, which began this spring, will hold a special appeal for Political Science majors since it is located in Brussels, the home of NATO and the European Parliament.

“This exchange program gives our students an opportunity to experience a cosmopolitan metropolis,” says Falkner. “The school is in the heart of Brussels, a vibrant multicultural city.”

Students of the university come from 50 different countries. Loeffler, who has only one housemate, from Nigeria, with an English speaking background, says the experience has allowed him to interact with people from all over the world.

“I realized that as the European Union develops, and as technology makes the world smaller, the influential organizations of Europe are much closer to home, making a Brussels opportunity seem like a great choice,” he says.

Anne-Sophie Mertens is one of the two students from Facultés Universitaires Saint-Louis studying at McDaniel this spring. The Business Administration and Economics major says Westminster campus life is much different from her home university, where she commuted 40 minutes by bus to get to class. Here, she is living in a dorm and enjoying the community on campus. Mertens chose the exchange program with McDaniel because of both her interest in international business and because it presented a rare opportunity to travel to America.

“Here, I was sure I’d learn English because I’d be speaking with native English speakers,” says Mertens. “This is a once-in-a lifetime chance to study in America.”

She plans to travel to New York, Philadelphia and Washington before returning to Brussels in the fall.

All scholarship and financial aid transfers to the Brussels exchange program. To learn more, click here.  http://www.mcdaniel.edu/4640.htm