Study Abroad
Whether it be a semester, a summer vacation or just a week, more and more college students are experiencing the benefits of having educational experiences in foreign countries.
Grove City College helps students study abroad at institutions in nearly every country not listed on the U.S. State Department's no-fly list, said Lois Johnson, director of the Stan and Karen Johnson Office of International Education.
The college also has its own European Study Center in Nantes, France, where students can take classes in English while taking trips around the area and experiencing French culture.
The tuition and room and board costs for a semester at the study center are the same as at Grove City, and some students even get travel expenses covered by financial aid, Johnson said.
Though the trend among students is to take a short trip instead of an entire semester, about one out of every two of the college's graduates participated in some international program, Johnson said.
Whether they work or study in their field of study, or simply take elective courses, the experience can be important to students, she said.
“It changes you. If you're going on your own, it helps you understand people. It helps you understand yourself. It helps you understand culture,” she said.
At SRU, study abroad programs are called a “high impact practice” because of how enriching they can be.
Traveling to locations overseas can be a highlight of a student's education, said Brad Wilson, SRU interim associate provost for transformational experiences.
“It's amazing how even just a week abroad can have a big impact on students,” Wilson said.
SRU has 20 partner colleges in 17 countries where students can go for a semester. They include Australia, China, Belgium, England, Scotland, Wales, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain and Sweden.
Typically 10 to 20 students go abroad each semester, though many more than 100 participate each year in faculty-led trips that are planned during breaks.One example of a faculty-led journey was a trip to Greece to visit ancient ruins led by a history professor.“It really brings to life what they were doing in the classroom,” Wilson said about the trips.Allyson Demetridis of Mars, a physical therapy student at SRU, went on a 17-day service trip to China.While on the trip, she sat in lectures, did laboratory exercises and help treat patients at Intech Rehabilitation Hospital in Beijing.She also learned how to play Mahjong and visited attractions such as the Great Wall and the Forbidden City.She said she recommends having an experience abroad to any student.“I believe this trip provided me with cultural experience and professional growth,” she said.Katerina Fissore, an SRU sophomore integrated marketing major from Saxonburg, spent 10 days in Sweden last year studying the school system, and she also studied at Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia, from July to October.In addition to her educational traveling, she spent a month traveling Australia doing activities such as skydiving over the Great Barrier Reef and white water rafting.She said she was able to take classes in Australia that she would have been taking at SRU such as marketing and public speaking. She also took a intercultural communications class where students discussed how people from different cultural backgrounds can sometimes offend one another or struggle to get along.Growing up in a small town, meeting so many diverse types of people made the experience fulfilling, she said.“The most amazing thing about traveling abroad was the people I met. I now have great friendships with students from Malaysia, Paris, Italy, Sweden, the U.K., Mexico and all over Australia,” she said.
