Tyler Cohn

While I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Lafayette, I find that, oddly enough, the greatest lesson I have learned is that there is a truly enormous world of opportunity beyond College Hill.

One thing that attracted me to Lafayette was its study-abroad program. The opportunities seemed practically endless, and I have been fortunate in having study abroad as a major part of my experience. I have participated in two interim-session courses abroad: London Theater in January 2003 and Geologic Evolution of the Hawaiian Islands in January 2004. These were my first real experiences in using what I had learned from my professors outside the classroom. As we saw plays in London and trekked across national parks in Hawaii, I was always being challenged to use the knowledge I had gained to better understand and enjoy the incredible experiences.

Continuing my Lafayette education beyond College Hill was one of the most satisfying experiences of my underclassman years, and only further committed me to my goal of spending an entire semester abroad in Australia. I spent fall semester of my junior year in Australia, studying at the University of Melbourne. Living with nearly 200 Australian students at Queen’s College was an experience I will never be able to replicate or forget. I traveled to amazing places, made great friends from all over the world, and succeeded at an institution larger than Lafayette in a city larger than Easton. It was a spectacular and empowering experience.

The other world of opportunity that I have been exposed to at Lafayette is the creative world of theater, entertainment, and the arts, which I plan to pursue in my career after graduation. Many of my courses and extracurricular pursuits have allowed me to flex my creative muscles, affording me challenges and opportunities that I feel I could only have found at Lafayette. Whether it was conquering my fear of poetry in creative writing class, tackling aspects of film production for documentary film class, or harnessing my skills as director for Marquis Players and College Theater, I have been granted singular opportunities to pursue my goals, engage material I enjoyed, and be part of some truly special projects. I have had amazing relationships with my professors and advisers as well as students with whom I have shared these incredible experiences.

I know that my time at Lafayette has prepared me well for the great big world out there beyond College Hill, and despite the great uncertainty that lies ahead, I’m eager to start making my way.