Being an American college graduate in Europe
About Olivier Demey
To a lot of people, Olivier is an introverted, kind of sheltered man, but to me he is my dad. The funny one, who used to sneak out in the morning to buy donuts with me, and go swimming in the winter with me when my mom didn’t want to. He is loving on the inside. Being born in Europe, going to college in America, and then moving back to Europe, America stands out in his experiences as helping to mold him into who he is today.
How important is having gone to college in America to you and why?
“Yes, It was very important you know, the age of 18 to 22 is a very formative part of your life so all experience is really shaping up to be the person you will be later on as an adult. I enjoyed seeing a new culture. Before I was always in Europe and the US was very different. There were also lots of international people there from Latin America and all over the world. It was a real eye-opener. I enjoyed it very much.”
Do you think having gone to college in America impacts the way you see the world around you, since that was when you got released into the real world?
“Yeah, it’s interesting that you say released into the real world….It’s the first time in life that you are independent really in college. Of course it’s still not so much so did it shape your view of the world yes I suppose i mean in the US to view the world from a US perspective and that’s probably still the case anyway in the globe right the world is seen from the US perspective for me personally well I then moved to London in Switzerland so I would say it didn’t stick with me.”
Do you think of it [having gone to an American college] as a big part of our cultural identity? Cultural identity is a group that you would identify with, maybe religion or things that you eat, things they believe and stuff like that. “Not necessarily i think that having then spent 14 years in London and also already having spent more than 10 years in Switzerland and Belgium more of a global citizen so no not that identity specifically with the US even though of course Mama is from the US.”
“It’s the first time in life that you are independent really in college.”
-Olivier Demey
So do you have any advice for your younger self about how you could maybe have taken more advantage of your time in America.
“Well I think looking back, I will just take more chances and more experiences still, but still focus on the studies of course.
so yeah I would’ve probably traveled around a bit more in the middle of America as opposed to just west coast east coast.”
Is there anything else you would like to add to this topic or any other. “So it's an interesting one and especially I guess also for you since you’re born in London, American parent, Belgian parent, lived already in two countries. Global citizen is something you will probably identify with if you’re working somewhere else so it’s just a matter of keeping note of perspective of different cultures.”
“I really wanted to go to New York or LA but my parents didn't want me to”
