Photo credit: Justin Chai '24 (Australia, UNSW, fall 2022)
Curious to know what studying abroad is really like? No better way than hearing from students themselves! Here you'll find stories, videos, reflections, and photos from students who have recently returned from studying abroad. You can also check out our Student Voices archives. Don't forget to browse our Photo Contest submissions!
“This was my first time abroad (that I remember), so why go to one country when you could go to three? We spent about a month in each country, and even within a country, we were always on the move.”
"At Swarthmore, most of our studies often take place in the setting of a classroom. I was able to use my classroom knowledge and expand it with the excursions and trips we took."
As a scuba diver and invertebrate biologist, Coral Reefs are incredibly important, and not always recognized. So the issues that [we] focused on was sunscreen and its effects on the environment. We got to interview resort tourists as well as professional scientists, and it allowed a clearer insight into this problem.
"If you’re on the fence about studying abroad, I highly recommend doing it! I went with a small language program and had a great time. It gave me a sense of independence that I never got in the US."
It wasn’t until Fall of 2021 that I was finally able to go [abroad], and I am so glad that I did. I met amazing people and saw a lot of amazing places. I was able to experience living abroad in a country that I was mostly unfamiliar with and I came to love it there.
"After a long day at the lab or in classes, I could envision sitting at the dining room table with my host family. [...] Through living with [them], Sweden soon became more than a foreign country in which I studied abroad; it became a place I began to call home, albeit their home, for four months."
During the fall 2021 semester Patty Gannon '22 studied in Spain with SAI Barcelona, a petition program. She shares her experience of one of the classes she took abroad: "The holistic approach to this course allowed each day we met in person to discuss a new and exciting topic about our collective and connected world."
