Joanne Williams
Editor

(Courtesy photo – From Charlotte to Marquette, Germany to Spain to Germany once again, travel offers life lessons to Elise Crossman.)

For Elise, travel is the way to learn. And while she is just getting started in life, she has been looking beyond Charlotte for years.

It began when she was young. “She’s always liked Europe,” said her father, Brent Crossman, retired after 30 years of teaching with Charlotte Public Schools, as is his wife, Julie.

Now, Elise Crossman is one of a few (65) students nationwide chosen for an exchange program hosted by U.S. Department of State and Germany. She is one of only three chosen from Michigan.

The Congress Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals (CBYX) is a one-year immersive program. Elise just graduated from Northern Michigan University (NMU) in business and international affairs. The program offers two months of intensive language training, four months of classes ,and five months in an internship position.

Germany is not foreign to Elise. She was there just last year in a NMU study abroad course. She was hoping to return one day, and an advisor, Ryan Bond, helped her make it so.

“He started out by telling me this fellowship was super competitive,” Elise said, so she did not bank on it. “I kept it to myself for a while,” she said of her application. Bond knew she had a chance. He had previously helped another NMU student through the process.

Elise was a five-sport athlete at Charlotte High School. She, and her sister, Lauren, who went to Kalamazoo College, enjoyed their time there.

But when it was time for college for Elise, she wanted to look beyond Mid-Michigan. She said Marquette reminded her of Charlotte. “It is a nice town, Charlotte. It shaped who I am. I felt like I could walk in any store and know five people there.”

It is that background that Elise shares with people she meets in Europe. “I am getting to share my roots,” she said. She especially enjoyed the culture, food and social life in Germany.

In fact, what brought her to Germany the first time was a foreign exchange student from Germany at Charlotte High School – Marlene. Elise had never been out of the country, but she accompanied Marlene back home and caught “the travel bug,” she said.

Brent said they have hosted two exchange students, and got to travel to Barcelona, Spain with one of them – Mercedes. The Crossmans recommend hosting these young people: “The positives far outweigh any negatives,” he said.

Thinking back, living in Europe was always a dream for Elise. Now, she admires how many there socialize, without cellphones in hand, and gather in impromptu soccer games.

She said they are also enamored by her one-liners, most, she said, come from her dad.