1. Study USA(2014-2015)
Karen Wray
Rocky Mountain College, Montana

2. Sequence of Presentation
 The beginning
 Orientation and Starting my new chapter at RMC
 Classes & Achievements through them
 My Rocky Mountain College Life
 ASRMC- being Vice President
 Debate Team (adventures and honours)
 Enactus Team (adventures and honours)
 Choir (music re-entered my soul)
 The Summit - Writing for the school newspaper
 Billings & Montana area adventures
 Travelling America – one state at a time

3. The beginning…
 My year began on August 18th 2014 when I flew out with three other Study
USA girls, Mary, Lea and Carrie.
 My route was Dublin > Atlanta > Minnesota > Billings (Montana)
 This was the start of the best year of my life and an amazing adventure!

4. Orientation – Dinner, First Day & Camp
We went to Beartooth Christian Camp and completed team work activities and bonding sessions, we also
canoed, rock climbed, zip lined, paint balled, swing danced, water trampoline-d and had campfires.

5. More of Beartooth Camp, MT

6. My Awesome Room Mate – Paige 
Paige is
definitely
a Best
Friend for
life! I
know I
will see
her again
soon 

7. Classes
GPA 3.89
Student
Involvement
Semester 2 –
GPA 3.79
Semester 1 –
GPA 4.0
ClassesSemesterOne
• Business Law
• Entrepreneurship 1
• Retailing
• Human Resources
Management
• Negotiation
• Debate
ClassesSemesterTwo
• Management
• Marketing
• Small Business
Operations
• Entrepreneurship 2
• Enactus
• Debate
• Choir
• Skiing

8. I met RMC President – Dr Bob Willmouth

9. Big Sky Economic Development Authority -
Entrepreneurship
This was a group
in Billings, that
help start up
businesses. They
came into class
often and we
went to numerous
events. Such as
their 25th
Anniversary
Dinner &
Seminars. Also we
competed in
Start Up weekend
as a class and
came 2nd Overall!

10. JK Cupcakes – See Facebook
One of my classes,
Entrepreneurship Two required us to
start our own small business, Jessica
and myself started a very
successful cupcake business called
JK Cupcakes! The point of the
exercise is to gain skill in dealing
with customers, stock, finances,
reviews, standards, teamwork and
actually creating product.

11. More Career Enhancement & Studying
Snap Chats could probably tell my Rocky Story!
• For class I had to do a bank interview to
present my business plan.
• I had tests twice a week every week
• I was in contact with a major law firm –
Crowley and Flack
• I went to KPMG’s Open days
• I studied a lot in the Library with friends

12. I became a Battlin’ Bear
RMC American
Football season
started. This was
Rocky v Carrol
2014

13. ASRMC – Student Government – Vice President
I was nominated and voted in to
ASRMC as Minority Senator in
September 2014, throughout the year I
sat on the Student Relations
committee who organised and hosted
three very successful events such as
Rocky’s got Talent, Halloween
Extravaganza and ASRMC Scavenger
Hunt. On Senate we made a lot of
major decisions. In November 2014 I
was nominated, ran against four
others and was unanimously voted in
as Vice President. This was an honour
as it allowed me to give back to RMC
for the amazing scholarship that they
awarded me with!
The Student Leadership Dinner 2015
– I went as Vice President of ASRMC
Student Relations Committee 2014

14. I joined Debate Team – My first tournament at RMC
Debate improved
my presentation
skill, my
confidence and
structure in essays

15. My second Tournament – Calgary (Canada)
This was a tournament for new debators, it was nerve racking, but it was a lot of fun and great
experience for our group. It was a bonding experience as we travelled 10 hours each way in a Rocky
Van! – I was told by another Debate coach, that I had improved significantly from the Rocky debate

16. Third debate tournament – Denver, Colorado
The entire team went to this debate,
it was a great time and we
advanced more and more as a team
in competition and as a group. And
hey, it was another 8 hour car
journey for debate family bonding
time!

17. The Finale – New York City
The Kings College Debate
was the highlight of my
debate career. I also met
up with Ashlyn (SUSA) and
got to sight see with the
team in NYC!
• Billings > Denver > NYC

18. Tribal College Teaching – Crow Agency, MT
 Our team went out and taught Debate to American Indian students in Little Big Horn College
 It was great fun, and I got to teach one class first semester and in second semester I was in charge of
material covered and I taught all classes!

19. The Bye Bye Debate BBQ & More Pics
• Above was the last good bye photo of the team for
2014-2015, I will definitely miss this lot!
• It was great that I had my two best friends on the team
with me, Flávya (Brazilian) and Susan (Dutch)
• Throughout the year we organised Trivia nights and
worked on concession stands to afford group trips
• I was also Student Relations Commissioner for the Team

20. Enactus
Enactus is a worldwide
business organization who
use entrepreneurial skill and
knowledge to help others,
at RMC I took part in 5
projects (details in PDP)
1. Workforce women
2. SuitUP!
3. Pamba Toto
4. RockSlam
5. Broken Glasss to Working
Class

21. ST LOUIS NATIONAL CONFERENCE 2015
I represented
MT, RMC & NI
with the flag!
We won $5000,
2 trophies & a
plaque. And
Made it into
quarter finals!

22. Saying Bye to the Team – BBQ 2015
 The total hours I put into this
organization was 210 HOURS
in one Semester
 I loved working with this team and I
will look for a team like this in
Northern Ireland and try and
compete in Enactus UK

23. I recaptured my musical ability – I joined Choir & Started playing Violin again

24. The Summit – I wrote for the school paper
Throughout the year I wrote six article for the paper, three are
demonstrated above. I have never written for a paper before, so
to begin the challenge was converting my UK English vocabulary
into American English vocabulary. There were two editors who I
worked closely with, Teresa and Jenny, throughout my time, I
progressed as a writer and improved working for the paper
ultimately developed my writing style, structure and grammar.

25. I watched my first Baseball match with new friends

26. Our first solo camping trip – Columbus, MT
Swimming in the famous
Yellowstone River

27. Road Trips – first one to Cody, Wyoming

28. Road Trip – Red Rocks Amphitheatre & Boulder, Colorado

29. Halloween – Ski Team Party & Cabin Party
Cabin Parties were a huge Montana thing, I got invited to the Ski
Team Halloween party and also many others trough out the
year… so glad to be 21 in the USA!

30. Thanksgiving – Family Reunion
SUSA enabled me to be reunited for
thanksgiving with my great aunt in
Kalispell, MT. It was a 12 road trip in
traitorous snow, but I finally made it, 8
years from the last time we seen each
other. Audrey made a 16lb turkey for
two! It was also nice to let Audrey see
her kids and grandkids with the help of
modern technology 

31. When you go visit family, it makes you miss the people at
home a bit more, but you skype then get back to normal
My Mummy met
my Roommate
Paige.
As you can see
some of my 6
Labradors got
involved.
Also when my
care package
did not arrive,
my Daddy liked
to tease me
with Cadbury
chocolate…

32. Christmas at Rocky
Christmas was bittersweet, as one of my
best friends Molly was leaving for Sweden
the next semester 
Also I decided to go home for Christmas,
so I booked my flight & surprised
everyone, only my dad knew!

33. Flying home for Christmas!
Dad and I arrived at Mum’s School and the
receptionist phoned her to come and sign for the
‘package’ that had arrived… she came up and
cried. Also when I got home my dog cried for 20
minutes too!

34. New Years Day 2015 – Vancouver
Susan’s
Birthday on
NYE, so I
went to
Vancouver!
The 22 hour
journey back
to Billings, MT
by car. We
went via
Seattle and
Spokane. We
also
watched the
New years
day Annual
Polar Bear
Swim
We don’t
travel light,
so we can’t
book a
flight… skier
problems!
Dublin > France > Salt
Lake City > Seattle >
Portland > Vancouver
50 Hours of Travelling!

35. International Peace Studies at RMC
Cindy Kunz, Head of Peace Studies,
opened her home to all the international
students, above and around are some
pictures of when we went to cook at her
house. Cindy also asked me to speak at
the Annual Women's Conference about
NI, The Troubles & our Passage to peace.
I accepted the challenge and presented
it in January to a room of 30 women. My
talk lasted 30 minutes and it went well. It
was difficult to discuss, however I feel I
presented it representing both sides of
opinions.
Throughout the year, we attended all
peace study events.

36. RedLodge Ski Races
Winners - RMC
I had a lot of friends on the Ski
Team so I felt that I should go
support Rocky at RedLodge, MT!
…of course we had some
celebrations in Snow Creek too 

37. Ski Class … Learning how to be a pro!
I did learn how to ski on the ski weekend, I made lots
of new friends, had lots of fun
and …. I tore my MCL!

38. Spring Break – Kalispell, MT & Fernie, Canada
I went again to Kalispell, aka my second
home! It was so much fun getting to see
my Great Aunt Audrey again. My second
Cousin, Lynn also flew in from Philadelphia.
We had a great time and we went to
Glacier National Park, to snow shoe. We
also went to Fernie, Canada. I got Poutine,
aka Chips & Gravy with cheese! It
definitely is a home comfort. Also I made
some Irish Breakfasts and Pavlova.

39. Business Department Day Out - I learned how to
Golf (I also had a South African Pro Teach me)
Yet another
invaluable skill
for Northern
Ireland, I hear it
is a great way
to make
business deals
on the golf
course!

40. Easter – with my American Family
The first words this family said to me
were “Hey, our names are Dale and
Katie, but you can call us Mom and
Dad” – Sweetest people in the world!

41. I’m now a true Montana Woman!
I’ve Branded cows, eaten a Rocky Mountain Oyster (cooked calf balls), Rode a Bull, Rode a Horse,
been to the Rodeo (twice), been to a cow fair, and moved hay and hiked!

43. We begun a road trip on May 4th 2015

44. Stop One – Yellowstone National Park
• On day one we visited Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, this is something
we wanted to do all year!
• We got to see all of the wildlife and we seen Old Faithful along with all of the rest
of the park.
• This was however just as stopping point before we went to collect Lena in Salt
Lake city, Utah.
• Day One: Montana > Wyoming > Idaho > Utah

45. Stop Two – Salt Lake City
This was mainly to collect Lena (Holland) and then continue
onwards. We had a lot of fun in Salt Lake City and we even did
some geocaching!

46. Stop Three – The Grand Canyon, Arizona
This was like a painting when you looked at
it, I have never seen a more amazing site in
all my life. This was most definitely a dream
come true for me.
We hiked down part of the Grand Canyon,
we did want to camp in it, however all the
sites were sold out. So we stayed in Flagstaff
and had a fantastic time for a few days.

47. Stop Four - Phoenix, Arizona
We stopped here to do some hiking, some tourist sight seeing and to
see this beautiful city. Again we did more geocatching and we
relaxed a lot by the pool side

48. Stop Five – Las Vegas, Nevada
This was an
amazing
experience
, I was so
glad to be
22!
Two of our Rocky friends, Tyree and Sian showed us round their
hometown. As you can see we had lots of fun. We had VIP & free entry
into Omani Nightclub (Cesar's Palace) and VIP, a $1000 table and free
entry into Marquee Rooftop Nightclub in The Cosmopolitan. In the
daytime we tried to get some tan at our beautiful pool in the Hardrock
Hotel and sightseeing in Vegas.
My friend Eimhear flew in from NI to join & the boys went back home to
Sweden.

49. Stop Six – San Diego
We picked up Flávya (Brazil) from LAX
and travelled down to San Diego
It RAINED! – Eimhear brought it in her
suitcase…
We visited both old and new town SD.
We had fun though, we stayed in a
Hostel and met people from all
around the world. And… I got to go to
the world famous San Diego Zoo.

50. Stop Seven – Los Angeles
– Venice Beach
& Santa Monica
Our apartment was amazing & had a
hot tub and BBQ, so we partied. We
went for cycles and runs on the pier
and We also learnt how to surf!

51. Stop Eight
- Hollywood
This again was an
awesome day, we
got to see lots of
Stars on the Walk of
Fame, we got to do
some shopping and
most of all we got to
see the Hollywood
Sign as well as the
observatory. Sadly it
was Flávya’s Last
Day with the group
so we left her back
to LAX

52. Stop Nine – Santa Barbara
• Santa Barbara was a beautiful costal city. It was a lot more relaxed than the other areas around it that
we had been staying in previously. This was our last few days of the road trip, so we needed to make
the most of it and continue to get a better tan and see more of California.
• Santa Barbara was more expensive, but the town was very quaint and old.
• As you can see our car was still looking perfect at the end of the trip.
• This rental car was so smooth and fun to drive, and it was 100% an American Muscle car! I loved it!

53. Stop Ten - Malibu
This was my last chance to say bye
with my best friend from throughout
the year at Rocky, Susan.
It was such a strange day as I had the
feeling, when will we ever see each
other again!
That has to be the hardest part about
Study USA, leaving your friends and
loved ones behind, with an
uncertainty of a future.

54. Stop Eleven – Reno, Nevada
I stayed with my family
in Reno. I haven’t seen
them in 11 years, so it
was so much fun seeing
how much my two little
cousins had grown up.
We had lots of fun, we
did a 180ft sky drop at
the GSR, we had Irish
Night, hence the stew. I
watched Robert do his
first Cello Solo and I
watched Ryan score a
soccer goal. We also
met some awesome
people who we did
come dine with me, with

55. Stop Twelve
– Virginia City
Another cousin and her husband
came down from San Jose to see me.
We all had fun doing the old-
fashioned family photograph whilst in
Virginia. This is what the end of Study
USA has to be for, reuniting families
and having fun exploring the USA.

56. Stop Thirteen
– Lake Tahoe
Stop Fourteen
– Pyramid Lake
It was fun getting to go swim in Tahoe
(which is actually a Volcano, that
borders both California and Nevada)
and also trying to fish as Pyramid Lake
(Wadsworth, Nevada).

57. Interning whilst in Reno…
With Washoe County Government - HR
I wanted some more experience within the
business field. This was an excellent
opportunity that arose and whilst in Reno, I
interned/work shadowed with the Human
Resources Department. This department is
actually over eight different sectors. I got to
get some great insight for my final essay for
UUJ. However the real goal of this was to
learn more about HR, an area which I
discovered I enjoyed whilst studying it at
Rocky Mountain College. I sat in on some
meetings, listened to HR problems,
analysed some applications and prepared
for interview prepping. On my first day I
even had the chance to look in on a
Capitol meeting.

58. Stop Fifteen – Philadelphia
I am currently staying with
my Cousin Lynn in
Langhorne, PA. Getting to
see the Birthplace of
America really is the icing
on the cake for my year in
the USA!

59. Home has followed and supported me along
the way, throughout the best year of my life!

60. Travel wise… I’m not done!
To date, I have travelled 34% of America. I am still
to travel to Washington DC and New Jersey.
When happens I will have travelled to 40% of the
states in the USA. I hope to come back and cover
even more in the future.
I am finally travelling home on June 11th 2015 and
I will return to work as a trainee accountant on
June 15th at Hassard McClements Ltd in Co
Fermanagh for the summer.
Any questions or comments, contact me at wray.karen@hotmail.com or on 07527398661