{"id":14770,"date":"2024-03-01T01:30:20","date_gmt":"2024-03-01T09:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/?p=14770"},"modified":"2026-02-19T16:47:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T00:47:00","slug":"anika-wottreng","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/2024\/03\/01\/anika-wottreng\/","title":{"rendered":"Anika Wottreng Dares to Dream Bigger After Study Abroad"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"Anika
Student Anika Wottreng describes Antibes, France as her home away from home after her study abroad experience there.<\/em>
Courtesy photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Anika Wottreng<\/a> (\u201924) absolutely loves traveling and learning about new cultures, trying foods, and seeing a bit more of the world beyond her doorstep. The daughter of an international business executive, she comes by it naturally, having lived in Japan and Germany as a child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently, as a young adult, Wottreng completed her first study abroad experience, spending a semester at the SKEMA Business School in southern France. She says the experience completely changed her life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStudy abroad has made me more open minded and flexible to many career and life opportunities,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aligning study abroad with future professional interests<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"Anika
Wottreng on the French Riviera looking out at the Cap d\u2019Antibes peninsula.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Wottreng, who is also a Boeing Scholar and in the Honors College, spent a lot of time analyzing her personal and professional growth aspirations and chose a study abroad program that aligned with her double majors in international business<\/a> and management information systems<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She went through the CEA CAPA Education Abroad program, a third-party provider of high-quality, international academic programs. Support from the Carson College of Business International Experience Scholarship<\/a> was the key to being able to afford the experience, Wottreng says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With future plans to work in project management or data analytics for a global tech company, Wottreng thought living in France would be a good opportunity to brush up on her French language skills, immerse herself in a new culture, and explore a new country. She lived in Antibes, a small town in the French Riviera, just an hour away by train from Italy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most Tuesdays, she would Uber to school because of bus strikes. During the time she studied abroad, there was a national strike against the French government proposing to increase retirement age from 62 to 64.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople were not happy about it, and they showed it through transportation strikes,\u201d Wottreng says. \u201cThey even graffitied buses\u2014not to make the buses look ugly\u2014but to display their message of frustration, anger, and disapproval against the government\u2019s plan. Interestingly, in my elective ‘French Culture and History’ class, I learned about how French citizens\u2019 current rebellious spirit has deep roots in historic legacy like
the French Revolution. That connection was fascinating to see and understand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Appreciating the French lifestyle and culture<\/h2>\n\n\n
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\"Anika
Wottreng at a French bakery enjoying coffee and a croissant.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Wottreng cites confidence, time management, teamwork, adaptability, critical thinking, and problem solving among the most valuable skills she developed, as they will apply to any profession she chooses. She also says her cultural awareness completely changed after being immersed in French culture over time, as compared to a tourist experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s beautiful how you can live the life of a local, as if they handed you a pair of their shoes to not only walk in but also keep, and just to watch, observe, and live in a new culture and world for the time being,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How French people value work and free time surprised her the most, she says, because they always value their free time above work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrench people discuss and view work as something they do, not something they are. This is very different from the American culture I\u2019m accustomed to,\u201d Wottreng says. \u201cFor example, the answer to \u2018So tell me about yourself\u2019 isn\u2019t about a job title, but rather the city they\u2019re from, their hobbies, and maybe what they like\/dislike, or their life goals and dreams. They enjoyed drinking a coffee by themselves or chatting with friends for several hours. There was no rush, not even from the waiter. It was a different social interaction and environment, but it was so pleasant to just watch them enjoy life outside of work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daring to dream bigger<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In addition to her interest in working for a global tech company, Wottreng is also considering the airline industry or business consulting firms that have unique global opportunities. During spring break this year, Wottreng completed a second study abroad program in Dubai<\/a> learning about tourism, hospitality, sustainability, urban design, and international business. Eventually, she plans to move back to Europe and perhaps settle in Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause of studying abroad, I feel like I can dare to dream bigger since I\u2019ve seen with my own eyes people living a happy life doing a job that I didn\u2019t consider before,\u201d she says. \u201cI feel like I\u2019ve gotten permission by just observing and living in a different culture to live the life I want to.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anika Wottreng<\/a> (\u201924) absolutely loves traveling and learning about new cultures, trying foods, and seeing a bit more of the world beyond her doorstep. The daughter of an international business executive, she comes by it naturally, having lived in Japan and Germany as a child.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":[628],"featured_media":18241,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[425,618,428],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14770"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/628"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14770"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14770\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18811,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14770\/revisions\/18811"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14770"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/business.wsu.edu\/edividend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/author?post=14770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}