Twin brothers find adventure (and themselves) during study abroad trips

Twin brothers Chris and Kyle Stefani, both majoring in accountancy and finance at Gies Business, were oceans apart during their semester-long study abroad trips, but they ended up with the same takeaway: a great study abroad experience isn’t determined by where you go, but rather how open you are to new possibilities once you get there.

In the spring 2023, Chris traveled to Sydney, Australia, and Kyle (right) went to Barcelona, Spain. When they’d applied to Gies Global programs, both brothers chose Barcelona as their No. 1 pick. But Chris wasn’t deterred by not being selected for the program.

“I wasn't sad when I got Australia,” said Chris. In fact, he said his placement ended up being the best thing that could have happened to him.

With guidance from Gies Global Programs, the brothers arranged to stay in shared residences in their respective cities. As Kyle and Chris adapted to their new settings, they took stock of the differences between life abroad and life back home. For example, they had to adjust to a different academic pace while studying outside the US. Class periods in Barcelona were longer than the ones Kyle took at the University of Illinois, but he reported spending fewer weekdays going to class overall. At University of New South Wales, Chris converted to the trimester format, spreading his four courses over two separate terms.

Overall, they both enjoyed the flexibility of their new schedules, finding it easy to find time to immerse themselves in the surrounding culture and explore outside their new cities. Kyle recalled much of his travels in terms of the food he ate: an incredible variety of seafood throughout Spain, scrumptious pasta dishes along the Amalfi coast, and homecooked meals he shared with a host family in Morrocco. He also experienced some once-in-a-lifetime adventures with friends. On a trip was to the Canary Islands, he visited an active volcano and went surfing for the first time. Later, he and some friends rented an RV and camped on the side of a mountain in Norway – the Northern Lights above them each night.

The active lifestyle that Chris began to associate with Australian culture was something he adopted with enthusiasm. He immersed himself in nature, traveling across the continent to see as much of the outdoors as he could.

On a single excursion to New Zealand, Chris repelled down a waterfall, went skydiving, and hiked for hours in the dark to watch sunrise from the top of a mountain. On a road trip down the west coast of Australia, he and his friends lived out of a camper van for five days, grilling hot dogs for dinner each night and watching the sun disappear behind a red sand horizon.

“The desert would meet the beach,” Chris said of the landscape near Francois Peron National Park. “I've never seen anything like it.”

Though their trips were filled with plenty of adventure, both brothers agreed that one of the most rewarding parts of their trips was the personal growth they experienced from living in and adjusting to an unfamiliar place.

Chris (left) and Kyle both noticed a growing sense of independence as they acclimated to the rhythm of their new cities. At Illinois, they had relied heavily on the convenience of campus dining services, but in Sydney and Barcelona, they enjoyed shopping and cooking for themselves.

Chris also cut back on his use of electronics and invested more time in hobbies and socializing. He took frequent walks in the evening, started surfing, and even joined a local running club. He said that living in Australia gave him a new perspective on what his future might look like and helped him forge a deeper connection with nature.

Throughout his time in Barcelona, Kyle noticed his mindset shifting, too: “There was a period in my study broad experience where I realized I would not be getting this spin on history or this spin on this topic if I were studying it at home. I'm getting a completely different viewpoint of this topic because I'm in Europe.”

The four months Kyle and Chris spent in separate parts of the globe was the longest the brothers had been apart their whole lives, but they’re both glad they chose to participate in semester-long programs. Neither thought he would have gotten what he did out of the experience without the time and ability to immerse fully into the surrounding culture.

In true twin fashion, each brother had the same advice for other students thinking about studying abroad: be open, and say yes to as many opportunities as you can. As a testament to that advice, Kyle shared that he had initially waffled about his trip to Morrocco, but that it ended up being one of the best trips he took all semester.

“Just be open to new experiences, try different things, and explore as much of the city you're living in as you can,” said Kyle. “I think that will give you the best experience going abroad.”