This page is no longer being updated and remains online for informational and historical purposes only. The information is accurate as of the last page update.
For questions about page contents, contact the Communications Division.
For Kristen Mazur ’08 (Fayetteville, N.Y.), her semester abroad in Budapest, Hungary, provided a wide variety of knowledge and new opportunities.
“I have learned many things this semester. I can give you at least five different proofs that there are infinitely many primes and I can order lunch in Hungarian while giving you a brief history of Hungary,” says the mathematics major.
Mazur’s study abroad program specialized in math. While in Budapest, she took two mathematics classes and two Hungarian culture classes through St. Olaf College’s Budapest Semesters in Mathematics program. The program sends mathematics and computer science majors in their junior or senior years to spend one or two semesters in Budapest and study under the tutelage of eminent Hungarian scholar-teachers.
While abroad, Mazur lived in an apartment in the heart of Budapest with two other students in the program. She found this cultural immersion a necessary aspect of her time abroad.
“The biggest thing I’ve learned this semester is how to take care of myself, even in a foreign country where I do not speak the language,” says Mazur. “I can determine which type of meat is which at the supermarket without reading labels. I can get from Budapest to the Hungarian countryside and back, even though the train schedules are all in Hungarian and everyone who works at the station speaks little to no English. I can read any map and get from point A to point B. This experience has taught me that with a little bit of patience and a clear head, I can do anything.”
While Mazur got used to life in Budapest, she also found time to explore other parts of the country.
“The Hungarian countryside is absolutely beautiful. It is filled with adorable little towns and amazing vineyards,” she says.
Although she traveled extensively throughout Hungary, Mazur also visited other locations in Europe.
“I visited many places throughout Central and Eastern Europe,” she says. “I went to Amsterdam, Krakow, Prague, and Istanbul. I was surprised with how touristy Amsterdam, Krakow, and Prague were. All of these places were beautiful, and I enjoyed them all.
“Istanbul was my favorite place to travel. It was so unique, and completely different from these other cities and from anything that I am used to. I loved seeing the Aya Sophia and the Blue Mosque and learning about a culture that is so different from mine.”
In the future, Mazur plans to attend graduate school for mathematics and would eventually like to become a professor. She believes her study abroad program has helped her on her path to achieving this goal.
“I think this program has definitely helped my future career path.” she says. “Not only was I taking difficult math courses, but this was the first time that I was around students who were also greatly interested in math. It was nice to be able to talk to them about math topics, research, and graduate school.”
In the past, Mazur researched a system of delay differential equations with the mathematics Research Experience for Undergraduates program. She presented that research, conducted under the direction of L. Thomas Hill, professor of mathematics, at the annual Joint Meetings of the American Mathematical Society and Mathematical Association of America in New Orleans this past January.
Mazur is a member of mathematics honor society Pi Mu Epsilon and Pi Beta Phi sorority.