CLASS student completes graduation Czech-list

When picturing where she might be after graduation in Spring 26, Ella Clark envisioned working in a public relations firm in a big city to promote the next popular thing.

After spending three weeks studying in Prague, Czech Republic, in the summer of 2025, she realized she hadn’t seen enough of the world to know there might be other visions to choose from.

“I grew up in Moscow and hadn’t really left the country before,” said Clark, double-majoring in English and public relations. “In Prague, we had the chance to visit Radio Free Europe, meet their journalists and hear some of their stories. And I had this moment that was kind of profound. I saw how important their work was to them and the difference they were making. That inspired me.”

Clark and 17 U of I classmates took two journalism and mass media classes taught by College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences Professor Caitlin Cieslik-Miskimen and adjunct instructor Tara Roberts in Prague through U of I’s Education Abroad program.

For the Making of History: Media and Collective Memory class, the group heard stories from people who lived in the country when it was Czechoslovakia, a communist nation that was part of the former Soviet Union. They also visited many of the city’s numerous monuments, museums and parks that serve as reminders about World War I, World War II and the fall of communism.

It was eye-opening for Clark, who was born well after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 and the birth of the Czech Republic in 1992.

“Being in Prague was such an experience in living history,” Clark said. “In the U.S., I feel like we’ll pass by a World War II monument and not even think about it. But in Prague, it’s very alive and present. It’s still a big part of their lives and who they are as a society.”

For the Multimedia Storytelling Abroad class, the students produced photo essays, video diaries and podcasts about their experiences in Prague. Clark appreciated improving her multimedia skills by interacting with her classmates in an immersive environment.

“I’ve always been interested in social media and podcasts but that was all self-taught,” she said. “So in class, we would all talk about best practices for producing images and telling stories, then we would go explore the city at night and talk about how best to capture what we were seeing.”

Exploring the city as a group — and hitting underground jazz clubs and other hotspots when they weren’t studying — also helped Clark bond with her fellow Vandals.

“I only knew a couple of people at the start of the trip, but we traveled in a big group for three weeks straight,” she said. “We got pretty close and we came back with a lot of fun memories and stories — and over half of them are in all of my classes this semester.”

In addition to the memories and stories of her trip, Clark also brought back a fresh perspective on her future career.

“This semester, I’ve taken more time to reflect on the impact you can make in politics or working for nonprofits,” she said. “I think I would be more fulfilled going into a career where I can see the direct benefit of what I’m doing.”

She credits traveling abroad through U of I with helping her realize what’s truly important to her.

“You realize there are so many other people, so many other cultures and so many other ways of living,” she said. “You realize that your way is not the only way. I think this experience made me a more intentional, more confident person.”