These days (as opposed to the OLD days when I was in college) it seems like most Universities and colleges have more and more opportunities for students to travel/study abroad. Students are encouraged to gain some experience in the world. I think it is AWESOME!
When I was in college at St Cloud State University, we DID have a few opportunities to study abroad. You could either have gone to England for a semester and stayed in a castle, or go to Costa Rica. It was my dream to go to Costa Rica, but you might remember from this post that it just didn't work out for me. (I am still sad about that. It is 13 years later (OMG, I am OLD) and I still have not YET made it to Costa Rica).
So I never made it to Costa Rica, but I did, however, have the opportunity to do half of my year-long student teaching on an Indian Reservation in southern AZ during my senior year. Living and teaching on the Tohono O'Odham Nation was an invaluable experience for me, one that I will never forget. Living there was probably very similar to living in a third world country. I will have to write specifically about that experience some time soon.
My parents always thought studying abroad was a good idea and encouraged it:
My brother Brian took advantage of the study abroad at the university he attended (Carleton College), and ended up going to England and studied at Cambridge University. If I remember correctly, he really enjoyed the experience.
My other brother Jeff went to Kenya, Africa for several weeks and filmed a documentary while he was there. Check it out! This was an invaluable experience for him as well.
My cousin Tyler went to Australia and studied for a semester at one of the Universities out there and absolutely LOVED it! His pictures of his travels are amazing.
Just curious about who else has studied abroad or gone on an foreign exchange of some kind? Where did you go? What were some of the valuable things you learned on your journey? Would you do it again? If you weren't fortunate to go anywhere, where would you have liked to study if you had been given the chance??
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Other TFT posters today:
Denise on doing what you excel in
