For Kimberley Elias ’18, studying abroad without financial help just wouldn’t have been possible. But as a Santander fellow at the Grenoble Ecole de Management in France, Kimberley was able to follow in her Irish mother’s footsteps, traveling across the Atlantic to follow her passion.

"The best part of my semester was the people I met. In a course with 42 students, 19 countries were represented. I loved working with all of these people with such different backgrounds and perspectives on these fun class project. Yes — they were fun! They applied so well to my Bentley majors of global management and ethics and social responsibility. In a Global Strategies class, my classmates and I spent hours researching strategies to fill two blue books with possible solutions for a test case of Butler’s Chocolate. The final was even fun, too, because we were all so prepared.

"I just Skyped with everyone last week and I really miss them. But now I have friends all over the world who, hopefully, I can someday visit and reach out to for more networking.

"I’ve always loved global education; that’s why I have my major. Now I have the real-world experience to back up my education. I feel well-informed, confident. I don’t think so much now if I need to try something new. I’m limitless. I’m so indebted to Santander. When I found out about the fellowship, I couldn’t even talk, I was so excited. It was the best time of my life. Thank you."