Geophysical engineering junior attends global leadership training in the Netherlands

Geophysical engineering junior Halli Weis, of Anaconda, honed her leadership skills, immersed herself in foreign culture and made new friends when she participated in the Keith Sherin Global Leadership Program in the Netherlands this summer.

Weis was one of just 20 students from around the U.S. to participate in the highly competitive program, which hosted by the Council for Opportunity in Education and Institute of International Education. Weis is both a member of the TRIO Student Success Student program, and a student worker for the TRIO program. Weis qualified for the program through TRIO.

“Halli has faced many challenges in her young life and we at the Institute for Educational Opportunities office are so proud of her tenacity and resilience,” Director of Student Support Services Theresa Rader said. “She has represented IEO, TRIO Student Support Services, and Montana Tech well through this program. We are very proud of Halli and can’t wait to see all of the places she will explore and the lives she will change.”

The journey started when Weis traveled to New York City for a three-day orientation. There Weis got to know students from Pennsylvania, New York, Tennessee, Oregon, and Guam. Weis found that she and one other student were engineers, the others had majors in international studies, pre-law, humanities, and liberal arts.

The students got to know each other better as they traveled to an equestrian ranch in the Netherlands  for a week where they took classes, learned about the Dutch, and had discussions on different social issues, facilitated by ECHO, the Center for Diversity Policy. The first week included a visit to Amsterdam, where students were able to wander the city.

From there Weis and her fellow Americans were relocated to dormitories in The Hague, where they met up two groups of international students from Romania, Syria, Hong Kong, and other nations. Students were asked to exercise leadership skills by addressing world problems, like the 17 Sustainable Development Goals set forth by the United Nations. Weis was the only American in her group. Weis chose Youth and Democracy as her elective class, and says she learned a lot about how other country’s politics work. One session was led by organizers in their early 20s who were leading movements to address climate change and youth participation in government.

“They are younger than me and they have these organizations going, and they are involved in politics,” Weis said. “They can call their government representatives and have a meeting about whatever issues they want to have a talk about.”

The other students also came from countries where the popular vote determines the leadership of the presidency, rather than the electoral college.

“I learned we don’t have as much freedom to reach out to the government as they do,” Weis said.

The experience will have a lasting impact on Weis.

“It definitely changed my worldview a little bit,” Weis said. “It was a big culture shock. There were political differences, social differences. Their way of life compared to the U.S. is just very different.”

Some of the biggest differences were how people ate and how movement was built into their daily lives.

“They are very healthy people,” Weis said. “In Amsterdam you have to watch out for the bikes. There’s a lot of places where you can’t take cars.”

Weis said on average she walked 10-12 miles per day, and that the food was much healthier.

“The food was all really good,” Weis said. “There were all kinds of different foods. I had a fresh stroopwafel. Their bakeries are amazing.”

Weis said days were packed with classes from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but nearly every other moment was spent exploring.

She stood outside the Anne Frank house, met the ambassador to the United States at the embassy, saw the Royal Palace, and the Parliament Building. On the second weekend she traveled to Brussels, Belgium with a few group members.

“It was a cool experience,” Weis said. “It was the first time leaving the country and first time going to New York City.”

Weis hopes it won’t be the last time, though.

“There’s so much more to do in Europe and so much more that I would love to see,” Weis said. “If I can travel abroad again, I will. I will make it to Europe as many times as I can before I die.”