You’ve probably seen high school friends or other people you know post amazing pictures of their study abroad experience. My Facebook feed is bubbling over with gelato, courtesy of a high school classmate in Florence. Her stream of posts and images is only to be interrupted by posts of the beautiful Swiss Alps by another classmate. It seems as though the study abroad fever is being passed around – and thank goodness it has!
Every collegiate must seriously consider study abroad.
I have completed both a two-week study abroad trip that was attached to a Spring semester course, and I have partaken in a semester long exchange program. Just this morning, I hit the “commit” button to a four week summer semester abroad. I am infected.
The fantastic thing about study abroad programs, particularly here at USF, is that there is something for everyone. Stop. Read that again. Something for everyone. USF can work with any major to find an appropriate study abroad program. I have studied abroad with students from the following majors: Marketing, Mechanical Engineering, Creative Writing, Psychology, Biomedical Sciences, Chemistry, Anthropology, Business (need I go on…?). Study abroad can be used to fill required credits, to knock out the last pesky GKT or to gain invaluable international experience.
Not only does the study abroad office offer experiences for different majors, there are a variety of trip lengths (ranging from two weeks to two semesters), a variety of themes (by major, by a course, general, etc) and all of this means a variety of cost. I won’t tell you that study abroad is cheap. I will tell you that there are scholarships offered by the study abroad office. I will tell you that individual colleges offer study abroad scholarships. I will tell you that study abroad is not as expensive as you think. For a semester at Oxford Brookes University, I paid only $1,500 more than what a semester at USF would cost me. I funded my study abroad through extra hours at my job. Consider all the financial options before crossing study abroad off the list.
Why, though? Why is study abroad so important?
Through a study abroad experience, an individual experiences a new culture. It can’t be helped. Sometimes its not great things (like having to use a hole in a shed as a “bathroom” in India…) and other times it’s wonderful traditions, like Oxford May Day, and hikes to the top of temples in southern India. In many places, culture = food. Who doesn’t love food?
Study abroad is like one major vacation and a networking opportunity all at once. Let’s be real, a foreign country offers a lot of new things to see and do, which should be taken advantage of. At the same time though, everyone you meet abroad becomes a potential contact. There are alternative health experts I can contact as a result of my trip to India. I have contact with leading professors in England courtesy of my semester abroad experience. It’s not all professional. Friendships, both with other USF students, local students, and international students form. I now have friends in Spain, Australia, France, and the UK. International connections are an invaluable asset to have in your back pocket.
Let’s talk nitty gritty. We all graduate college at some point. Then comes jobs, employers, the hiring process. A study abroad experience tells a hiring committee that you are open to new opportunities, respectful of other cultures and diversity, and so on. Less than 5% of American college students study abroad. Make yourself stand out.
As a Bull, the USF study abroad office offers programs to fit your need, time, and budget. Take advantage of their expertise to match you to the perfect program. Experience all the world has to offer you, and place yourself in a top tier of college graduates. Plus, it makes for some really great stories.