#045: Ricci Scholars 1 - Contrasting Cultures Thru Real Estate | Olivia Muszynski

Migratory Patterns

This week I'm sharing the first of my conversations with two recipients of the 2018-2019 Ricci Scholarship. This Loyola University program offers scholarships to highly qualified students to spend their junior year studying abroad in 2 countries and conducting cross-cultural research. Olivia Muszynski owns the fact that she's still figuring things out, and it's apparent from the start when her answer to "Where is home?" is "To be determined." Having just wrapped up a year abroad as part of the Ricci Scholars program, her idea of "Home" right now is all about relationships and experiences. She's a couple of years removed from life in the small Florida town where she was raised, which she says "feels like a memory, but not like home," and she's just started exploring the world, trying to understand her place in it. It just doesn't make sense yet to declare a single location as "Home." What began as an internal migration from the American South to blustery Chicago has quickly evolved into a desire to live overseas, and her experiences in Rome and Beijing have only served to whet her appetite for more. A self-professed nerd who "loves reading the tax code," she's been studying the differences between the real estate markets of the US, Italy and China as part of per study abroad program, and she's been discovering how financial systems fit the cultures that they're in, which opens up new avenues for understanding between us. It's a unique take on the learning experience that usually happens as people migrate! Learn more about the Ricci Scholars program at Loyola University here: https://www.luc.edu/ricci/index.shtml Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:

• Twitter: @zax2000
• eMail: [email protected]

Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web (www.migrationmedia.net) and please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!