Her father is from England. His mother is from Germany. Both are citizens of a country in Europe and the United States.
Their names? Freshman Abigail Harkins and junior Luke Mitchell.
Land of Shakespeare
Harkins has English nationality on her dad’s side of the family. Every other summer, the Harkins family packs their suitcases and embarks on a plane to Bristol, England.
“My nana lives in England. She’s my dad’s mom. We like to visit her every now and then because she lives by herself,” Harkins said.
The freshman’s father was born in England, but Harkins was born in the U.S. By birth, she was guaranteed dual citizenship to both countries. The Harkins’ trips to England are mainly to visit family, but Harkins has also visited London, seen the royal family’s palace and viewed Stonehenge.
When comparing England to the U.S., two things strike Harkins the most: grocery stores and the set-up of housing.
“It’s kind of weird, but grocery stores are a lot smaller in England. We have a whole aisle for spices in the U.S., but the spices section is a lot smaller in England,” Harkins said. “The houses—the connected ones—are really close together. Maybe you won’t see a single house by itself, where we visit.”
Harkins believes that dual citizenship comes with advantages, such as speedy checking and boarding at the airport.
“Dual citizenship gives more opportunities to travel because we probably wouldn’t be going to England if we didn’t have heritage there,” Harkins said.
Home of the Saxons
Mitchell has German nationality from his mom’s side of the family. Similarly to Harkins, he obtained citizenship to Germany by birth.
The Mitchell family flies to Germany to reconnect with relatives during the summers.
“We travel mainly to visit family. I also went to school a little bit over there just for a couple weeks at a time,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell has been a part of multiple exchanges to German schools due to his fluency in the language.
“It’s definitely interesting. It broadens your mind to all these new cultures and things you normally wouldn’t see living in the same place. There’s small things that you don’t notice until you leave and it changes—small cultural differences that you don’t really notice until they’re not there anymore,” Mitchell said.
Dual citizenship really opens up my mind to all these new cultures. I feel like people who don’t have this opportunity don’t get to see what it’s like outside of the U.S. and what it’s like in other cultures. — Luke Mitchell
Over the summer, the junior traveled to Munich to visit a friend.
“Everything feels compact in Germany, yet there’s not that many people. The houses and buildings are all really close together. Then the second you get out of town, it’s just fields for miles and miles. In the United States, everything’s spread out altogether. We have some urban centers, but it’s a different layout of buildings. Customs and habits are of course different,” Mitchell said. “People use a lot more public transportation in Germany as a daily form of travel. A lot of people don’t have cars just because it’s easy to not have one. You can ride bikes for short distances, and there are buses and trains as well.”
Mitchell believes that his dual citizenship has made a lot of opportunities possible, such as enjoying German cuisine during his trips.
“Dual citizenship really opens up my mind to all these new cultures. I feel like people who don’t have this opportunity don’t get to see what it’s like outside of the U.S. and what it’s like in other cultures. They don’t get to fully understand them,” Mitchell said. “I think people should definitely try to get that experience.”
Concerning future plans, Mitchell is thinking about possibly going to college in Germany due to his connection with the country. His dual citizenship would make this opportunity possible. Mitchell also thinks that dual citizenship could be discussed more among the student body, including how it can “expand their horizons.”
“There’s probably a lot of students who have dual citizenship. It’s alright to ask them questions about where they have it. Maybe students can learn some things from others and gain more experience—maybe then traveling there themselves,” Mitchell said.
