In the Off-Term: Jenna Schwenk Working and Living in Belgium

To be completely honest, I'm a little surprised I'm alive to write this recap of my off-term! After an unfortunate miscommunication between the taxi drive and myself after departing the airport, I was stranded in a town 20km from my Belgian apartment with no Wi-Fi, and a very difficult language barrier. I thought I was done for. It seems appropriate that a nearby chocolate shop with free Wi-Fi came to my rescue!

I spent my off-term in Belgium living in a university town outside of Brussels called Leuven. I was working for an American chemical company, Huntsman, at their European research facility. One of Huntsman's largest divisions is the manufacturing of chemicals used to produce polyurethane foam. Polyurethane foam has many applications and the one I was working with is standard foam used in automobile seats. In recent years, large companies have been moving toward more environmentally friendly processes in the production of their products, the automobile industry is no exception. One of the biggest issues in automobile foam is the emission of formaldehyde, a proven carcinogen. My job consisted of refining an existing technique to give initial levels of formaldehyde emissions in different foam samples. Overall, the project was challenging and very interesting because it gave me the opportunity to work in an industry lab as well as experience the office dynamics of the working world.

While I was abroad, I was lucky enough to also have the opportunity to travel with the only other Dartmouth student in the country, a crew coxswain Mackenzie Garrity, who was working for the US State Department in Brussels. We traveled around Belgium on our first weekends, eating every delicious item the country has to offer (fries, mussels, waffles, chocolate, need I say more?) and later venturing to farther locales such as Barcelona and Amsterdam. Additionally, I was able to attend a Carneval parade in Cologne when my parents visited over Valentine's Day. It was incredible to be close enough to so many amazing places that I was able to visit just for a weekend!

The best part of my experience in Belgium, however, was the opportunity I had to play field hockey with the Dames 2 team on KHC Leuven. The girls were welcoming, incredibly skilled, and very excited about the fact that I was “from New Jersey, like Jersey Shore!” It was so cool to learn and grow as a player while immersed in the culture of another country.

Although I'll miss the friends I've made and never having any homework, I'm glad to be back in Hanover and ready for whatever the spring season has to offer!

- Jenna Schwenk '17