Connecting the Years: 2nd Annual Homecoming Brunch
For the second time, we decided to host a brunch in order to give our exchange alumni an opportunity to gather, reflect on their experiences, and bond with fellow Global Buffs spanning across generations. On homecoming weekend, we found ourselves once again reliving our favorite memories from abroad, comparing notes about our respective universities and how they've changed throughout the years, and remembering once again why education abroad is an experience meaningful enough to last a lifetime.
From this experience, we were fortunate enough to chat with a few alumni who were willing enough to share their stories in our Global Buffs Gazette. While in the past, we've featured an alumni spotlight, we thought this was a great opportunity to give a snapshot of some of the incredible people we met at brunch this year. Read on for a few bits of "Where are they now?" with some of our notable alumni!
Juliana Broste:
Juliana Broste (’05) studied abroad in Sydney, Australia in the Spring of 2004.
Today, Juliana, “TravelingJules” is a travel filmmaker and host. She explores the world with camera in hand, creating video content for travel brands and media outlets. Her stories have been published on Travel Channel, Lonely Planet, USA TODAY, VISIT DENVER, CNN Airport Network, Viator, and more. Juliana also enjoys capturing stories for her TravelingJulesvlog, sharing fun things to do around the world, from cliff jumping in Curacao to camel riding in the Sahara Desert. Recently, Juliana joined fellow traveler storytellers at the Travel Blogger Summit to promote Study Abroad and Global Citizenship. Juliana is grateful for the springboard her education abroad experience provided and hopes others have the opportunity to discover the power of travel.
Mark Troyer:
Mark studied in the Chambery program in the spring of 1983. Prior to attending the program, he had only taken two semesters of French at CU. Although he was conversationally limited, he felt confident he could handle the basics. However, upon his first meeting with his host family in Chambery, he found himself unable to come up with a single word of French. From that first evening with his host family, he took a very deep dive into the French language and youth culture. Because his host family could speak virtually no English, there was no choice to communicate in anything other than French - even when he was mentally exhausted. He made a concerted effort to socialized with French students and not hang around the other Americans. By the time he returned to Boulder in August 1983, he was conversationally fluent in French. Following this experience, he took two semesters of German at CU and then spent two months in Cologne in the summer of 1984.
Currently, he lives in Europe, where he has lived for the past 25 years working for various American software companies in various European technical sales and management roles. He married a Dutch national, and eventually moved back to the Netherlands. He now has three daughters who are nearly all studying at university or working. Over the past 5 years, he has been doing work managing teams in India and Asia.
He credits his experience in Chambery with helping him to discover a clear path and volition to focus his career in an area where he could work in a multicultural/multilingual European environment. He graduated from CU in 1985, with a degree in French and Computer Science. Post-grad, it became clear to him that he needed more experience before a company would send him to Europe as an Expat, so he pursued an International MBA a few years later at Thunderbird in Arizona. Three years later, he was working in London as a field product manager.
Mark Troyer:
Mark studied in the Chambery program in the spring of 1983. Prior to attending the program, he had only taken two semesters of French at CU. Although he was conversationally limited, he felt confident he could handle the basics. However, upon his first meeting with his host family in Chambery, he found himself unable to come up with a single word of French. From that first evening with his host family, he took a very deep dive into the French language and youth culture. Because his host family could speak virtually no English, there was no choice to communicate in anything other than French - even when he was mentally exhausted. He made a concerted effort to socialized with French students and not hang around the other Americans. By the time he returned to Boulder in August 1983, he was conversationally fluent in French. Following this experience, he took two semesters of German at CU and then spent two months in Cologne in the summer of 1984.
Currently, he lives in Europe, where he has lived for the past 25 years working for various American software companies in various European technical sales and management roles. He married a Dutch national, and eventually moved back to the Netherlands. He now has three daughters who are nearly all studying at university or working. Over the past 5 years, he has been doing work managing teams in India and Asia.
He credits his experience in Chambery with helping him to discover a clear path and volition to focus his career in an area where he could work in a multicultural/multilingual European environment. He graduated from CU in 1985, with a degree in French and Computer Science. Post-grad, it became clear to him that he needed more experience before a company would send him to Europe as an Expat, so he pursued an International MBA a few years later at Thunderbird in Arizona. Three years later, he was working in London as a field product manager.
Last Updated December 2017