By Reighan Sheppard, Journalism senior

Reighan Sheppard was one of 15 students who participated in the Globalizing American Sports study-abroad program from the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, held Nov. 1-6, 2023 in Frankfurt, Germany. To read other stories from the program, visit here.

Globalizing American Sports has been such a rewarding experience. As someone who grew up in the world of the NFL, it was very interesting to look at the league from this perspective and see how it is accumulating popularity across the globe. My first study abroad experience was in Paris for the globalization of the NBA, so it was very interesting for me to go to Frankfurt, Germany, and report on a different sport from the same perspective.

Once arriving in Germany, I was honestly a little surprised. I’m not sure what I was expecting things to look like, but the energy felt very familiar. Perhaps the fact that it was fall played a role in the familiarity, because it reminded me a lot of the northeastern United States where I grew up. However, when we went more inland to the more historical sites of Germany, I started to see more of that traditional European landscape and architecture. There were cobblestone streets all throughout Heidelberg, in conjunction with the castle and other historical buildings. My favorite part about experiencing different countries is experiencing their history, and if I do that, I feel like I have really taken advantage of my traveling opportunity. I believe spending half a day in Heidelberg satisfied that urge.

I appreciate that we were able to explore some of the other museums in the city. While this was a sports-centered trip, a lot of our extracurricular activities and group excursions encompassed topics outside of sports. We had the opportunity to go to the Olympic governing body, and of course the game-day stadium, but we also explored the communications museum and one of the leading newspaper companies in the country. I liked that we were able to explore the other avenues of journalism besides the sports perspective.

As a person who grew up traveling a lot and has a family background from different parts of the world, I am very open to experiencing new cultures and new traditions. It makes traveling very interesting because I am always looking at something to learn or gain from the experience. That is exactly how I tackled and approached this study abroad experience, with open arms.

I tried new food, new drinks and fully accepted Germany for everything it had to offer. This trip just made me want to add more stamps to my passport and further explore the world. I think, studying abroad is one of the best things any college student can do because it just enhances the growth of your mind. College is already a period of expansion, exploration, and empowerment. Studying abroad will only catalyze that process.

I am so grateful CJC for providing opportunitiesto travel  three times (Paris, New York and Frankfurt) in just one year. These trips have honestly been the highlight to my college experience, and they are moments I will cherish forever.

Take a look at a news package I completed while abroad in Germany here! And enjoy this video we produced with classmates Syni Sparkman and Rachel Rosen:

Posted: December 18, 2023
Category: CJC in Frankfurt, Sports, Study Abroad Projects
Tagged as: Globalizing American Sports, sports, Sports@CJC, Study Abroad, Study Abroad experience