Anxiously awaiting her May 22 plane flight to Florence, Italy, Hillary Wagstaff is taking an opportunity of a lifetime to study abroad for the summer. Wagstaff, a junior in mathematics, has wanted to study abroad since last year when she heard about her sister’s study abroad experience in Peru.
“I picked Italy partly because of the art and history, but mostly for the Italian language because it’s so beautiful,” Wagstaff, who recently took a basic Italian language class, said.
While there are many reasons students choose to study abroad, Sam Morris, the assessment coordinator of the Study Abroad Office, said studying abroad is an “opportunity to experience education in a way you can’t necessarily do on campus.”
Morris said he feels there are many benefits for those who participate in such cross-cultural opportunities.
“Studying abroad adds marketability to a job interview, since it’s not just a vacation, but an actual educational experience,” he said. “It also shows that you can adapt, on some level, to a different living situation.”
For those who might be nervous, or for those who want to find out more information about study abroad programs, Morris recommends attending one of the Study Abroad Office’s general advising sessions. He also recommends contacting students who previously have studied abroad — it would be difficult, he said, to find someone who did not have a positive experience.
Michael Maher, a senior in horticulture, applied to study at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Australia.
“The general advising session is with a group and they show a PowerPoint with information you can find on the Study Abroad Web site,” Maher said. “But there’s also individual advising that’s one on one with a person who knows more about where you want to study and it’s a lot more helpful.”
Maher will find out if he is accepted to study aboard in less than two weeks.
“I have all my core classes left and studying at the University of the Sunshine Coast would be an awesome complement to my degree, studies of interest and career path,” he said.
Although most of the deadlines have already passed for the upcoming summer, fall and year-long opportunities, the Study Abroad Office has extended many of its programs deadlines to March 14. Mexico, Poland, Namibia and Ireland are just a few of the places still available for the summer program.
For those interested in studying abroad for the spring 2009 semester, Morris advises to start thinking about the program and the application process now, since the deadlines will arrive at the beginning of the fall semester. Although it is possible to finish the application in a week, Morris suggests allowing a month to complete the application and to have the recommendations filled out.
“The application definitely took a while,” Wagstaff said. “I had to write a personal statement that took me about two weeks to finish because I really wanted to make a good impression.”
