"Don't say that again!"

Iveta Kyselova's mother, tears welling in her eyes, clapped a hand over her daughter's mouth. In the Communist country of the Slovak Republic (formerly Czechoslovakia), it wasn't wise to speak of study in the United States.

But Iveta had a goal. It took her three years to reach the U.S., and, at age 17, she arrived in Orlando, Fla., as an exchange student. Then, in only one year, she received her first American diploma.

Iveta (pronounced E-vet-uh), a senior business major and German minor at Berea, has made determination equal success. Her perfect 4.0 academic standing and exemplary performance as a student employee in the Financial Affairs office, resulted in some key internships, one of which was with the U.S. Treasury. The internships and intense study also have opened another opportunity. After graduation, she'll join the investment banking and securities firm of Goldman, Sachs & Company.

"You can make what you want out of life," Kyselova (key-suh-low-va) emphasizes. "Everything is out there, you just need to grab it."

That's something she tells fellow students. She encourages them

to start early and work hard in seeking goals, and to plan ahead. Iveta also refuses to be discouraged. It took her seven months to get an internship with the Treasury Department.

Berea's plan for internationalizing its students' education is fully supported by Iveta who is well aware how "everything is becoming more global."

"The international study emphasis is the best of all opportunities," the Czechoslovakia native maintains. "It will open the world to students and provide a different perspective and interest on how people think and how different cultures function.

"People are different, but we're really the same and Berea already does a wonderful job in enabling students to learn how to react and learn from each other," she said. The experience for students to study for a Short Term or a semester abroad also will be of great benefit, she added, where future jobs are concerned.

Iveta helped coordinate a Short Term trip last January to five European countries for study of World Issues since 1945. The students who accompanied her and Drs. Pat Shugars and Carolyn Orr, Agriculture and Natural Resources professors, studied the politics, economy and family and social life of such countries as Germany, Belgium, Poland, Slovakia and Austria.

"Everyone discovered the U.S. is not the only place where one can live," Iveta smiled.