Stephen Lamm ’19, traveled abroad twice while at UMW – once on a faculty-led trip to Québec and also on a semester-long study abroad in Grenoble, France, which led him to visit 11 European countries. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

Stephen Lamm ’19 was a junior at Mary Washington when he studied abroad at the foot of the Alps. During those four months, he learned to speak fluent French and trekked across Europe. He also lost his grandfather – and found himself.

As an openly gay student who led UMW’s College Republicans, Lamm spent his college career crossing boundaries and building coalitions within his own party and across the aisle. Overseas, though, he had to rely on a new set of voices to see him through a difficult time.

“I was in a foreign country, speaking a different language, and yet I found myself surrounded by friends who felt like family,” said Lamm, who now manages health insurance cases as a legal analyst at a boutique D.C. law firm. Read more. 

In celebration of International Education Week 2019, Nov. 18 to 22, UMW shares stories of students who have studied abroad. One in three Mary Washington students volunteers, interns, conducts research, or joins a faculty-led trip or other UMW-approved experience outside the United States, according to Center for International Education (CIE) Director Jose Sainz. Visit CIE or call (540) 654-1434 for more information.