Campus THEN and NOW Series - Part 13: Study Abroad

Caitlin H.

November 14, 2009 - 4:43 PM

This year I am working as an International Peer Assistant, or IPA, on campus through the office of International Affairs. My tasks, loosely described, are to work with study abroad programs and provide student support for interested parties. It is an absolutely amazing job. The IPA team is made up of six students, all past study abroad participants, who have designed and are preparing to host a large, campus-wide fair this Wednesday. In the spirit of getting ready for the fair, it is time I opened up to you about a very significant part of my academic past.

The theme for this year's fair will be: "Amazing Awaits: where will you find it?" It is a statement I think says a lot about study abroad programs and global internships - the experience is different for everyone, but the resounding impact an is the type of enrichment I hope all students find before they leave their respective colleges. I found that experience the summer and fall (in this hemisphere) of my junior year.

When I arrived at the UO I had essentially made the decision I was going to study abroad. It was something I never thought I would do, and then I happened to look into it more, thought about the benefits, analyzed the potential value, and a few months later, my bags were packed and I was boarding my first international flight. Looking back on it now I feel like I just stumbled onto the study abroad website one day and the next thing I knew, I was going. Since I don't speak a second language I limited my search to English speaking programs, and found an ‘out-of-this-world' opportunity waiting for me in Australia.

Like the residence halls, my study abroad experience is a conversation I could return to again and again and never run out of things to say. I hope I will do justice to what it meant to enrich my education in this way, and yet, I know there will never be a way to capture everything. Let me say now that I strongly believe the opportunity to study abroad is perhaps one of the most valuable assets to a college education. This roughly six month journey was an educational experience unlike anything else I have ever done. And by the time I returned to the United States, I realized the most valuable lessons were never even recorded on an academic transcript.

While in Australia I attended La Trobe University. More specifically I attended the Bendigo campus taking courses in Outdoor Education and Nature Tourism, which fit in nicely with my Environmental Studies degree. I actually completed one of five area requirements towards my major while studying abroad. My classroom structure was unlike anything I have heard of in the US. Roughly two or three days a week I might've been in a classroom, and the rest of the week or weekend my peers and I would be out on camps in the bush experiencing the environment as much as we were talking about it. We did things like bushwalking, white water rafting/kayaking, week-long treks through national parks, cross country skiing and more. To be honest I'm not sure there is an adjective that does enough to say how amazing it was. In my studies I was specializing in local environments, assessing human impacts, and researching other things like the history of ‘environmentalism.' I remember mornings being called awake in camp, lured out from under my tent fly, to do some 6am bird watching. Other nights lying under tree hollows waiting for the sun to set to watch the nocturnal animals emerge. These are things I just don't get to do at Oregon. And to go out into the field like this and apply everything I had learned in a classroom, was a powerful opportunity.

The diversity of study abroad programs available to UO students is incredible - over 165 programs in more than 90 countries. We also offer internships abroad on which students can earn academic credit. There is so much variation in costs, dates, deadlines, accommodations and more it is hard to make generalizations. I'd encourage students to look more into study abroad programs at any university they may wish to attend. And one day, I hope to share some more specifics of my own experience.

Sunset from a camp in Gariwerd National Park

Members of the International Student Association

At Uluru

Camp/class life in Gariwerd National Park