By Akiva Bryant
We’ve all heard of studying abroad, but what does it actually entail? Why do people do it? There are many ways you can get outside Woodward, and even out of the United States for school. For example, international trips abroad allow you to travel outside of the US for a semester, a year, or a couple of weeks. However, studying abroad, as the name implies, is when students travel outside of their home country to take classes and go to school.
Ms. Jaimie Spetseris, the Director of Global Connections at Woodward, especially talks about the specifics of studying abroad.
“So an example of [studying abroad] would be with School Year Abroad, students can go to Spain, Italy or France, and they can also do a study abroad program with them,” Ms. Spetseris said. “They’re usually like six weeks long and that would be over the summer.”
Even if you want to travel with a program not related to Woodward, Ms. Spetseris and those at the Global Connections Office promise to help you figure out what’s best for you.
“Don’t fret, we can still advise you on going abroad for the summer or doing any kind of international program, because we have lots and lots of like resources we can pull from and there’s so many good programs outside of Woodward, that it doesn’t always really need to be tied to the school,” Ms. Spetseris said. “What we need to know is like, what’s your vision? Where are you interested in? Is it like language learning? Is it cultural exchange? Is it adventure, and then countries you want to go to for how long? What price point and we can really help steer students and advise them to a program outside of Woodward, that will be a good fit for them?”
Based on her own personal experience, Ms. Spetseris recommends studying abroad.
“I studied abroad,” Ms. Spetseris said. “When I was in college, I spent a summer in Spain. And it was life changing, it really opened my world and helped me understand different perspectives, and helped me you know, further my language learning journey, and really just like ignited a sense of curiosity, and wonder.”
On the flip side, what about students? Why would anyone choose to leave behind, friends, family and their American life behind for a year? Well, we can simply ask Carrie Ash ‘24, who spent her junior year in Viterbo Italy.
“I mainly wanted to study abroad to travel and experience new cultures, but I also thought it was very good for college recommendations,” Carrie said. “They would see that I traveled and had an interest in international affairs which is something I thought doing so I was like, why not do it? It’d be fun. It’d be an experience to also become independent on myself than relying on my parents for an entire year.”
This sentiment is repeated by Andrejs Smith ‘25, who’s currently studying abroad in France with the program SYA.
“I’ve learned to be independent because of the lack of restraints they have here with the program because we have so much freedom in getting around the city, in our classes, and taking charge of what we want to do here like extracurriculars,” Andrejs said.
In historic places such as Italy, it’s especially useful for learning. You get to personally see where important events in history took place.
“And it’s very interesting to see that because you’re basically living in this area where there’s so much history, and I think you get more of that when you travel as it’s more hands on,” Carrie said. “So as a history nerd, it’s really nice to go and like experience that first-hand with my own eyes instead of just the classroom.”
However, just like anything in life, there’s always a con. When living away from home for so long, one might find that they’re especially homesick. Even Carrie found herself in this position. “I didn’t realize I would get homesick easily, I ended up getting homesick,” Carrie said.
Homesickness can definitely interfere with the enjoyment of the trip. However, I’d say the positives outweigh the negatives. She experienced a few takeaways for her trip. Those around her noticed her change for the better.
“I think I’ve definitely matured and changed as a person but I probably haven’t realized that,” Carrie said. “Many people have said, I’ve changed. I came back and they probably said I’m more, like, wiser now.”
To answer our question of why someone would study abroad, it’s because…. why not? Students gain valuable experience and life skills, and it’s just fun. If it’s something you want to pursue, just go for it, I promise the kids won’t make fun of you for being American. They’re just as excited fro you to be there as you are.
As Ms. Spetseris puts it, studying abroad can help you find out who you truly are.
“Put yourself, you know, outside that comfort zone into that type of fun, where I believe most people see the most growth,” Ms. Spetseris said. “These kinds of different and sometimes challenging situations allow us to learn so much about ourselves, and really develop this resilience and just open-mindedness and parts of our personality that maybe we didn’t even know are there.”
