June 7, 2024
By Ava Gonzalez
Staff Writer
Postsecondary students are not limited to furthering their education in a single state or even country. Many colleges and universities offer study abroad programs so students can take classes while gaining firsthand knowledge about different cultures, customs and traditions.
Senior Kylie Koehne, who will be attending Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, said she first heard about studying abroad on social media. As she considered colleges, she said she prioritized schools with opportunities to study abroad.
Koehne said the advantages of studying abroad include accessing career resources, exploring the world, gaining life experience and meeting new people.
“It would be very beneficial to go out and experience the world instead of just sitting in a lecture hall all day,” Koehne said. “Students not only get amazing experiences from traveling the world but can also [undergo] a lot of personal growth as they are living in another country on their own.”
“You have to break your comfort to adjust to college. You have to break your comfort again to study abroad.”
Koehne said she is especially interested in Semester at Sea, a multi-country study abroad program where students of all majors live on a ship and travel together while taking classes.
“It’s cool that [students] get to go to multiple [countries] instead of just one,” Koehne said.
She said visiting college and university websites and researching information about their study abroad programs has given her a sense of what these institutions offer. However, Koehne said students must also put in time and effort in high school to make their study abroad dreams a reality.
“I would recommend that [students] keep their grades up and focus on schoolwork so that when the time comes to apply to college, they can get into a school with a good study abroad program,” Koehne said.
History teacher Mr. Tessalone, who earned his bachelor’s degree in secondary education from Pennsylvania State University in University Park, spent the spring semester of his junior year studying at The University of Westminster in London, England. He said his three college roommates, whose older siblings studied abroad, inspired him to do the same.
“It’s a great experience,” Tessalone said. “You have to break your comfort to adjust to college. You have to break your comfort again to study abroad.”
Tessalone said his favorite part of the experience was exploring Europe with his friend when they had a three-week break. They visited nine cities and seven countries during that time, taking advantage of free walking tours.
Tessalone said when planning to study abroad, students should bear in mind the exchange rate of the American dollar and the cost of tuition. He said when he was studying in London, he was fortunate to have been charged in-state tuition through Pennsylvania State’s study abroad program.
Besides monetary concerns, Tessalone said disciplining oneself to stay academically focused when in a new area far from home can be challenging.
“You’ve got to set a schedule for yourself. You’ve got to stay on top of [your schoolwork]. You’ve got to stay organized, but you want to have that balance,” Tessalone said. “Balance is key.”
Supervisor of Humanities Ms. Klein, who attended Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, said students at her college had access to many study abroad programs available through partnerships with a variety of postsecondary institutions.
As a double major in English and French, Klein spent the second semester of her junior year studying in Paris, France. There, she took classes in English and French at the renowned Sorbonne University and The American University of Paris.
Klein said she and her cohort of American students lived with French families to further immerse themselves in French culture.
Klein was assigned to live with a widow, and the program’s guidelines were for students to have dinner with their assigned families five nights a week.
“We had the best time because it was just the two of us, so I got so much speaking time, and we would watch French game shows,” Klein said. “I would have friends [over] for dinner sometimes, and she loved to speak to them…. It was so amazing.”
Like Tessalone, Klein said she took advantage of her spring break to explore, traveling by train through France and Italy.
While Klein enjoyed visiting these destinations, she said the highlight of her time abroad was when she and her peers engaged in casual activities like spending time at a Parisian park.
“We rented boats, we played frisbee, we [had] a picnic and I’ll just still always think of that as one of the best [times] of my life,” Klein said.
She said she encourages all undergraduate students to study abroad.
“When you go into college as a freshman, start looking at the prospects of it so that you know what the options are,” Klein said.
If spending a semester studying in another country is not possible, Klein said students should participate in a two- or three-week study abroad program over the summer.
“It’s [an] experience… you’re never going to have the opportunity to get again,” said Klein.
