Study Abroad Photo Essay

All prospective abroad students are able to meet with advisors at the International House, to help them chose a location to study, help organize their application to their specific program, or address any questions or concerns. These meetings can be in a one-on-one setting or in a group setting by location-of-interest. Over 3,000 DU students have studied in 57 nations since 2004, and the student participation is increasing each year.

What makes the study abroad program at DU unique compared to other college campuses is that it offers the Cherrington Global Scholars Program. This makes going abroad efficient and affordable because it allows the student traveler to stay consistent with their major and minor

requirements and eliminate additional costs of tuition, room, and board. Students are able to gather all the information for their programs at the International House, which make the process understandable and calming.

In general, more students from all over the world are studying abroad in a foreign country to gain experience, knowledge, and maturity. An article by Mary Beth Marklein in the USA Today stated that, “A record 241,791 U.S. students went abroad for academic credit in 2006-07, up 8% from the previous year, and nearly 150% more than a decade earlier.” DU plays a significant role in these high statistics, by making their study abroad program affordable, efficient, and ideal. DU students have to fill out an application for DU as well as for their specific program.

Some prospective abroad students are going to countries that have no relevance to their degrees. Sophomore Jill Waxman is currently applying to a fashion and design university in Florence, Italy. Although she is a Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism major, she wants to take a break from the routine and experience something completely new.

“DU makes a good effort to keep their students really active in the abroad program before, during, and after their experience,” said senior Rachel Kopec. “We did multiple follow up dinners at the International House, where we shared our travels with the coordinators and offered improvement suggestions. The coordinators also sent out our e-mail addresses to prospective study abroad students, in case they had questions or concerns.” This way, veteran students are able to share their knowledge and experiences abroad with students preparing to go abroad, helping to provide a sense of assurance and comfort.

Waxman is enthusiastic about studying in Italy and putting her “eye for fashion” to the test. “I’m going to Florence because I want something fresh. I don’t know any Italian or the culture of Italy either, but it has always fascinated me, and I figured the best way to learn about a culture is to go to the country itself and dive right in,” said Waxman. “I’ve also always been interested in fashion and design, even though it’s not my major, so I look forward to doing further research on those topics.”

Senior Maggie Tackas collected magnets from all the different locations she traveled to while she was abroad. “Although I studied in Sevilla, Spain, I was able to easily travel all over Europe relatively inexpensively,” said Tackas. “It was a great opportunity to see more parts of the world, as well as have my friends share their knowledge of the country they were in, and be my personal tour guide.”

“After living with each other in Sevilla, and knowing we can travel around Europe successfully, we thought it would be a great idea to continue living together when we returned to DU,” said senior Rachel Kopec.

Goldenhersh stated, “Since we have been back in the US and we are cooking our own food, we have also continued to use culinary tactics that our house mom used in Spain, because we liked the food so much. We have replaced butter with olive oil, we eat a lot more hard boiled eggs, and we tend to always have a glass of wine at dinner.”

While Goldenhersh, Tackas, and Kopec were abroad, they collected a variety of souvenirs from Europe to bring back to the US and use to decorate their new apartment. This includes items from the football games in Sevilla, mugs from Oktoberfest in Munich, rustic art from Morocco, glass clogs from Amsterdam, and wine corks from all over Europe. “Sevilla was the perfect location for me and my expectations and DU helped me in the process every step of the way,” said Kopec.