By Devon Wilkenson

Entrepreneurship major Julian Wynen was born in Belgium and spent seven years of his life living in the Canary Islands, Spain with his family. Wynen spent his senior year at a prep school in Florida and has lived in America ever since.

Wynen chose High Point University for the small school charm. “I love the fact that at HPU you are always surrounded by familiar faces. e sta and professors get to know you and that is something I really like and value.”

Like anyone moving to a new country, Wynen experienced cultural shock, espe- cially around the concept of dinner.

“Having lived in Spain for more than seven years, I have adopted the sacred appreciation for meal sharing. In Spain and Belgium, dinner is a social occasion. We sometimes spend hours at the dinner table. Here in the U.S., having dinner is more out of necessity, not as much for the social aspect of it.”

Wynen nds himself missing An- twerp, the city where he is from in Bel- gium, above all other things. “It is a sort of charm that you can only nd in smaller historic European cities.”

Even though he misses home, there are certain aspects about America that Wynen fell in love with.

“I constantly meet interesting people with amazing ideas,” says Wynen. “Being an entrepreneurship major, I meet people every day who are self-starters. I think that is unique to the U.S. It is embedded in the culture. It takes a lot of courage to start something, and I think courage is a wide- spread quality found in many people here.”

After graduation, Wynen has yet to make concrete plans, but he has consid- ered traveling before committing to one place. “But if I have the opportunity to stay here, I think I will take it with both hands. I am also thinking about pursuing an MBA here in the U.S.”