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Provo, Brussels, Cork—classics student gets a broad BYU education

May 7, 2010

John Russell
Student John Russell has interned three times as an undergrad. In 2009 he worked as a political analyst at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium.

This past summer student John Russell had what he calls his most memorable BYU experience—he was a political analyst intern at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium.

“I am convinced that my fellow interns, my lunch mates, will one day be prime ministers or presidents of their home countries,” he says.  

 He is grateful for the donations that have enhanced his education. “What I have learned at BYU I could not have experienced by solely reading textbooks,” Russell says. “My BYU experience has made me who I am and has prepared me for the future.” 

Russell, who has completed three internships, is studying classics in the College of Humanities. In addition to his course work, he has participated and placed in social venture competitions, cofounded a nonprofit organization to help people in West Africa, and led the college’s student council. 

As part of his internship, Russell spent several weeks in Cork, Ireland, documenting elections. An American knocking on doors in Ireland to discuss European politics was a curiosity to some, but Russell made those he met comfortable by drawing on relationship-building skills he honed as a missionary.