Isabel Colyer, SLU’s Resident Nomad

“American is definitely the worst.”

As an individual who has visited and lived in multitudes of places all over the world, from Columbia, Missouri to unpronounceable parts of Indonesia, Isabel Colyer is certain of the airline she’s had the worst experience in. “I can’t…I can’t handle American,” she says, in what is possibly one of the least scathing reviews the airline has received over the years.

A well-traveled student, Colyer is pursuing a political science major at Saint Louis University. Her plans are to eventually become a lawyer, following in the footsteps of her mom and step-dad. She highlights her analytical tendencies that make her an ideal fit for a career in law.

“Say your friend comes to you with a problem. There are the people that will be a shoulder to cry on, and then there are the people who give you a Google Doc with steps on how to fix your problem. And I’m person number 2 for sure.” 

And a Google Doc in multiple languages at that. With fluency in French and English, Colyer is fast expanding her grasp for new languages.

“I self-studied Portuguese for a few years, so I’m at an intermediate level with that. But I can’t speak very well, I can only read and write. This summer I’m taking intensive Polish courses, so I’m hoping to learn that language.”

Colyer explains that the spontaneity of the experiences she had abroad, for someone like herself who is very detailed and organized, helped expand her personality as well as making her more independent. “I lived in Indonesia for three months for a study abroad in high-school during the summer. That’s probably the most extreme example of the nomadic experience I had because I really didn’t know the language.

“I just had to constantly sit back and let other people make decisions for me because I had no idea what was going on. That is a very difficult experience when you’re young.”

Indeed, she believes that encounters with people from all sorts of different backgrounds has made her more open-minded. She even picked up on the different ways she was treated depending on where she was.

“Indonesia, the culture was very different, everyone was really warm. And I looked really different so when I got lost someone would come up to me and ask me “are you okay”. But in France I blended in enough [that] people think I’m French and the culture is also a little more distant, so people who didn’t know me wouldn’t just talk to me.”

Colyer recalls an early experience she had where she felt lost while studying abroad.

“My school in France, when I first got there, they had never had an exchange student before. They didn’t give me a schedule, they didn’t give me a tour of the building, they didn’t send anyone to help me…I didn’t even know what grade I was supposed to be in. They didn’t tell me anything.

“It was rough, but I gained a lot of problem solving skills and I definitely gained a lot of independence.”

There are countless more examples where Colyer has had to fend for herself, and where someone else could’ve been unsettled by the slew of changes and movements, she instead grew up to love the life she had, and since high-school, has been advocating to her parents for study abroad experiences using PowerPoint presentations. 

Currently a junior, Colyer plans to go to Poland next year for her next study abroad experience. Although she doesn’t see herself moving around forever, she is certain she wants to emulate the nomadic pattern enriching her life so far for at least a few more years.