Finding Your Passion: Dominic D'Arrigo Explores Copenhagen, Denmark

I was looking for a good program through SUNY and found this opportunity at the UB Study Abroad fair.

I studied in Copenhagen for climate change and Greenland's glaciers. My classes focused specfically on the basics of glacieology (the study of glaicers) and how the changing climate has drastically shrunk the glaciers of Greenland. We spent a lot of time focused on the mass balance of a glacier; how much mass it loses every year versus how much it gains. Climate change is an issue near to my heart.

I am looking for places to live in and work outside the U.S. after I graduate. Copenhagen was near top of my list. 

I was over the moon with a chance like this! It is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Most days, my class was a lecture, but we also did some outings to places that were working on ice core studies like the deep freezer run by the Niels Bohr Institute. The major excitement for the class was going to Greenland.

Outside of class, I spent most of my time just walking around the city and taking in all the culture. I spent a lot of time at the many beautiful public parks in Copenhagen, King's Garden was one of my favorites for sure.

I really liked hearing the bustling of the city and chimes of the clock tower from my classroom. It was a nice refrehser from the bells of my high school back home in the suburbs.

The most important thing I learned was that Copenhagen really may be the right place for me, it really seems like I found my people. The big life lesson I have taken from this is to always jump on something when the opportunity presents itself.

This has given me a more concrete path forward in my academic career and has provided me with some invaluable connections. I feel ready to take on my future!

If you can afford it, do it! There are many scholarships out there as well for those who may have a harder time affording it. This adventure of a lifetime is worth every penny.

It is up to you to get the most out of your trip. But that doesn't necessarily mean you need to constantly be doing something. Remember to take some time and enjoy yourself, be one with your surroundings and reflect on how cool what you are doing actually is!

It was a campus close to home with a good program for my major. Having lived near the campus my whole life, it always seemed like a goal I needed to reach.

I have an innate desire to understand the fundamentals of all things in my life; no other study could show me all the fascinating things physics has.

I am the president of the Society of Physics Students (SPS). I want to reach out to everyone and make physics more approachable for incoming students, while giving current students a place to relax and mingle with like minds.

My work can be put towards creating energy sources that will overcome the reliance on fossil fuels.

I am an LBGTQ+ member and an introvert, so getting out was hard for me at first. But once I warmed up to the area, I was able to really feel at home.

You will know when you have picked the right path for yourself in life, you get this cozy, confident feeling that makes you feel unstoppable.