Category: Study Abroad

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Study Abroad: Greece Summer Intersession

Europe Study Abroad

https://vimeo.com/359858009

How did you balance taking a class while studying abroad?

Before traveling to Europe, all the students met with our professor for the Christianity and Civilization course, and we had assignments to complete before leaving. We read numerous books and wrote responses. When we flew to Greece, we took our midterm on the airplane. This aspect was a little hard because I was tired, but I managed to get it done. While we were in Europe, we had to complete journal responses at our leisure. Finally, we all had to give a presentation at a designated tourist spot. It may seem like a lot, but I would do it all again in a heartbeat.

At which location did you present?

I did my presentation at Mycenae where I had the opportunity to talk about King Agamemnon and his tomb. It was really interesting because the view was incredible while climbing the mountain, but the tomb is in a honeycomb structure. So, when you go inside, there were cement blocks laid out to look like a honeycomb from a beehive. The acoustics were great and we all sang as one.

If a prospective student was interested in studying abroad for two weeks, what would you tell them?

I would highly recommend this to anyone who wants to travel and also get coursework done too! It is great if you want to complete one of your humanities courses. The one thing I did not realize until we got there was the people you travel with will become some of your closest friends and I still hang out with them on campus now.

How did you find out about the Summer Study Abroad opportunity?

I saw a poster around campus, so I went on my.gcc.edu and went under the International Education tab to learn more about travel courses Grove City College offers.

Europe is known for its food, so what was your favorite item you ate while in Greece and Italy?

Oddly enough, I do not like vegetables, but one of my favorite things to eat was the Greek salad. The vegetables were so fresh, and they serve it with a huge block of cheese and olive oil, it was phenomenal. I still have dreams about the first salad I ate there, that is how good it was. On the other hand, my favorite dessert became baklava on this trip.

 

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Preparing for a Semester Abroad

Flying over the Swiss Alps to Italy!

Studying abroad through Grove City College is a wonderful way to expand one’s view of the world, meet new people, and learn about different cultures! The school makes studying abroad extremely accessible and allows each student to have options with the multiple programs approved by the Office of Global Programs.

The thought of going abroad for a whole semester can be daunting for a student, especially when the process is unclear and unfamiliar. Not to worry though, because the Office of Global Programs is extremely helpful and students can stop in or make an appointment at anytime! Student Advisers are available to guide each individual in their own process and make it as clear and personal to them as possible. The first step will be deciding what semester will fit best into the student’s schedule to go abroad. It will be necessary to make sure that all required classes are taken and/or available in the semesters that the student will be back at Grove City College. And then the fun begins! It will be time to do some research and narrow down programs and destinations. This is one of the best parts because the options are endless and there are really no limits to where a student can go! Some things to think about when deciding where to go are: What is your major? What languages can you speak? What is a culture that you have always been interested in learning more about? Where have you always dreamed of traveling to? Do you want to challenge yourself in speaking another language or would you rather go somewhere that speaks English?

Once the destination and program have been settled on, it will be time to figure out how many and what courses the student wants to take. The Office of Global Programs will assist the most in this stage of the process, as handing out and receiving the Course Approval Forms is their main job when advising students. Preferred and alternate courses will be chosen and then students take the form with each course syllabus to the correct Department Chair here at Grove City to get a signature. The form will be brought back to the Office of Global Programs where the forms are delivered to the Registrar’s Office to get approved. The Financial Aid Office will email the student to discuss more about preparing to study abroad. The process is a wonderful balance of learning to go through each step independently, along with guidance from the correct staff and students.

Every student should at least consider going through the process of studying abroad. It will be a learning experience and so rewarding once it is completed and the student is on their way to a semester in a different country!

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What is an ICO?

ICO Guatemala team 2017

Every semester students are given the opportunity to participate in an ICO, which stands for Inner-City Outreach. ICO trips are held over just about every break during the school year and take place in cities all over the world. The trips are completely student led, with a team of students running the individual trips. Each fall there is an ICO Fair where information about the trips as well as application forms are provided. The teams are hand selected by the students running the team after much prayer and consideration. A unique part about ICOs compared to other missions trips is that an application is necessary to even be considered for the trip. This allows the people planning the trip to choose the right students for the team. Over Christmas break we have three teams going out for anywhere between 11-14 days. These teams will be serving and doing missions work in the Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Jamaica. While the location of the trip is different, the mindset of the people going on them is the same: Serve the Lord and make an impact for his kingdom. Between the three trips there will be a variety of work being done. Some will work in schools and run a VBS program, others will minister through sports, and others will serve by building houses and helping with construction related things. ICO trips are a great way to get involved for a greater cause, meet new people, travel the country and most importantly learn more about the Lord. The most common thing people say coming back from trips like these is that they went in hoping to make an impact on the people and found that a greater impact was made on them by the people they went to serve.

There are roughly 10 trips that take place each year, with opportunities to serve both in and out of the United States. Although the same trips take place year to year, there is always opportunity for the beginning of new trips. For example, this Thanksgiving a team of students went to Rhode Island (pictured to the right) to serve at a completely new location in hopes to start a trip that would continue to happen for years to come. Other trips are held within the same country, but find new missions opportunities each year. The Ecuador trip, for example, is going to a completely new location this year and is focusing more on serving the missionaries than serving the people in the community, which is different than their previous tips. Although there is room for new additions, many of the trips that are offered have been going to the same location for years and are able to for close relationships with both the children and missionaries that they serve. The Jamaica trip has been going to Robins Nest Children Home for roughly five years now, and will continue to go there as long as they are able to. These three trips are just a small example of the impact ICOs are making globally. If given the opportunity to go on one I would not pass it up. Serving the kingdom alongside your classmates and learning about the Lord together grows people in a unique way and offers an experience that not many people will get.

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Faculty Led Study Trips (Part 2)

As a sophomore, I have had the privilege to partake in one of the faculty led study trips abroad during the May 2018 intersession. I signed up to take the three-credit humanities course, Western Civilization. With Dr. James Bibza and Dr. Paul Schaeffer as the professors teaching this course and leading us in our travels, the trip was guaranteed to be a success. These two professors had experience with the travel route that we would be taking, and had worked closely with a tour company to ensure we would have smooth travels. The objectives they had set for our class to accomplish seemed reasonable. It included some readings from a text book, and attending lectures while we were on our trip. However, they ultimately hoped that we would immerse ourselves in the new cultures that we would be experiencing.

Our studies began in London, England for four days. Following a day trip to Oxford, our group headed for Dover. At this point, we took a ferry across the English Channel to Calais, France. Once we were 0n the continent, our stops included Paris, Geneva, Zurich, Innsbruck, and Heidelberg. In total, our trip visited six European countries in a 14 day period.

Once we had safely returned to the United States, our final task was writing a paper that discussed any of the topics that we discussed in lectures. The paper may have been a requirement of the course, but I know that many of my fellow travelers felt that it helped them to thoughtfully compose the incredible experience that we shared.

The trip itself was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I will always cherish the memories that I made through it. However, I was also lucky enough to also make lasting bonds with people that I may not have had the chance to meet without this course. My experience with faculty led study trips was incredible, and in the future I will absolutely look to do more of them.

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Faculty Led Study Trips (Part 1)

Grove City College offers unique opportunities to take your learning outside of the classroom. The Office of International Education, along with many professors, work together to provide students with the chance to take classes abroad. While Grove City does provide more traditional study abroad experiences for those interested in doing so for a semester or entire academic year, the faculty led study trips are a shorter and more condensed way to learn in foreign countries.

Professors work with the College to design specific trips that they feel will help to provide the most beneficial learning environment. This is why Grove City is able to offer such a broad range of excursions including trips to England, France, Guatemala, Greece, Italy, Japan, and many more countries. Parents and students may worry about what the costs may be, but Grove City is careful to keep prices as low as possible while ensuring that each trip is a wonderful experience.

These trips are designed to allow students to take up to a three credit class in a condensed period of time. Faculty led study trips tend to be between 10 and 15 day experiences. The goal is to allow students to learn about and immerse themselves in different cultures, while also ensuring that the academic requirements of each course are fully met. Students of all majors have the opportunity to participate – this means students also network with one another and make friendships outside their field of study.

Grove City is actively looking to broaden our horizons in regards to faculty led trips. With new trips comes new opportunity and new corners of the world for students to explore. With chances to go during both the January and May intersessions, every student has plenty of opportunities to partake in one or more of these very impactful experiences. In my next post, I will give an insiders view of what my experience on a faculty study trip was like.

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Relationships While Studying Abroad

When I reflect on my family life, I know how strong we all are and how we always look to each other in times of need. I really appreciate the relationship I have developed with my family and look forward to continued relationship growth. My parents and I became extremely close once I started into my freshman year of college because of the distance apart from each other. While studying abroad in Italy, I found it difficult to develop the same types of relationships like I have with my family or my close friends at school. I knew that it would be challenging to be thrown into a completely new country and culture, but I did not realize how much it would impact my relationships back home. With being focused on traveling and photographing Florence, calling my parents and friends to hear about their lives was not always the easiest. I made time to try to catch up, but I also wanted to make sure I did not miss out on my time abroad.

I think something so important about intercultural relationships would be that in order for them to work, it requires an understanding of the other culture and the way they live. If we cannot grasp what they are going through in their everyday lives, how can we have an effective conversation or relate to them? My parents managed to understand what I was going through abroad and how being so far away from home impacted my faith, friendships, and lifestyle. All of which gave me a different perspective when arriving back home to the United States. The connections I made while in Italy with my Italian professors and other study abroad students are especially meaningful because we all experienced the same type of difficulties of being in a new cultural environment. If one is going into a new culture, they must be fully immersed to understand it and get the most out of the opportunities.

With studying abroad, do not be afraid of being far away from home. Meeting new people is such a fun experience and develops one’s character! Gaining relationships with people of another culture is something so special and lasting for lifelong situations.

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Study Abroad Relationships with Photography

A semester abroad in Florence, Italy left me with a perspective I have never experienced before and has provided me with lifelong thoughts. When I arrived in Europe, I was anxious for the next four months and what the Lord had in store for me. Throughout my time, I felt waves of excitement, pure joy, and love for the beautiful sights I was seeing every day. There was a constant sense of being overwhelmed by God’s creation because of how much there is to be thankful for and appreciate.

From the start, I knew my photography class was going to be my favorite. My professor, Cosimo Bargellini, lived in Florence which gave us a direct source of Italian culture, especially considering he was also a professional photographer. Our class consisted of walking around the city, learning techniques of photographing, and enjoying each other’s company.  Although he was fluent in English, Cosimo was still raised in the Italian culture. This provided a slight obstacle in that I did not fully understand everything about his culture since I was raised completely different.

Our verbal communication was acknowledgeable because Cosimo taught based off his experience and practice in photography. By discussing and showing aspects like exposure levels, shutter speed, and framing a picture, the students, myself included, learned new approaches about the way we had previously known about photography. We had differences though, relating to our faith and politics. Cosimo had grown up in a Catholic church but once he was older, he decided to become a Buddhist and focus intently on the lifestyle. One day in class, Cosimo talked about how he had hope for his next life and that it would be even better than his current. I immediately asked him to explain his thoughts further and he described how he lives following the teachings of the Buddha. Buddhism obviously is different from the Christian religion that I have grown up in, but I was still able to open my mind up to hear Cosimo’s opinions about life and the afterlife. Without alternate viewpoints, we are all agreeing on the same idea and this will not generate new concepts that could ultimately benefit a community of people. I did not agree with Cosimo’s religion because of my own but I am still able to respect and understand how Cosimo thinks, something that benefits our intercultural relationship.

His view on politics also differed from my own, but I did not let that affect our bond through the lens and about the beautiful world in which we live. Italians generally criticized the ways of “greedy Americans” and the decisions we make as a country. They especially denounced our current president, Donald Trump, and his ideas for the future of the United States. I do not particularly like to argue with people about politics because most of the time I am not knowledgeable enough and think it can be pointless in that people can be set in their ways. Despite my personal feelings, I could understand Cosimo’s feelings in that he had a heart for the nature and animals on this earth. He would tell our class stories of his expeditions in the wild, surrounded by the purest form of a safari and the amazing tigers that he photographed. His passion for photography and showing emotion through his pictures is what is truly important, not how we disagree on politics.

I think my experience with Italians abroad, specifically Cosimo, was such an important life lesson for others and any future I have with other intercultural relationships. There are always going to be stereotypes about people of different cultures, race, or ideas but we must not let that stand in the way of connecting with others and learning about alternate lifestyles. In hindsight, I absolutely loved meeting people of other viewpoints.  It expanded my personal knowledge and provided me with the ability to have a stronger compassion and perception of others, something that I believe can always be enhanced. Focusing on other’s actions, both verbal and nonverbal, is the best way we can comprehend how they are feeling and do our best to further unity among one another.

 

Cosimo Bargellini, my photography teacher during my study abroad class in Florence, Italy.

 

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Study Abroad: Brianna Darnell

Brianna Darnell

Psychology Major with Biology and Spanish minors

Class of 2018

 

Where did you go?

I went to Valencia, Spain which on the east coast of Spain. I lived with a host family, I had a host mom and a host dad and an American roommate from Ohio State University. There were 40 American students in my program from around the county, we went to a variety of universities in Valencia. My host family was a Spanish speaking family. I took four Spanish courses when I was abroad and that fulfilled my final requirement I needed to finish my Spanish minor. There were no other Grove City students in my program, but that is rare because you can find both. I lived a 10-minute walk from the beach. I attended the University of Valencia.

What made you study abroad?

One of the big reasons was to practice my Spanish, I’ve always known I want to go to a Spanish speaking country. I love traveling and I’ve never been to Europe so I’ve always wanted go to. In college, your life is pretty flexible so I wanted to take opportunity of something the school offered. I wanted to experience the lifestyle in a long term situation, not just a short vacation.

What was your favorite memory from your trip?

Every Sunday, my host parents would take me out to get tapas because it was a time when families spend time with each other and be with each other. We would go to a restaurant and they would most likely know the owner, and we would sit down, order and three hours later we would still be there. In those three hours, we’d talk to the owners of the restaurants, they’d ask about my life in America and I’d learn about their lives growing up there. It was a great time bonding with them because at the best of the trip they said they saw me as one of their own children and that was a great end to studying abroad.

How were the classes?

I took one language class and three culture classes and those classes all contributed to my minor requirements. The classes were all taught in Spanish, but that was just because of my area of study. The schooling there had a very light schedule. I had school four days a week, so I had three-day weekend. I had a fair amount of homework assignments, but nothing was too time consuming. My professors worked at a pace that everyone could keep up with, and if you needed help, they would sit down with you and work on assignments, but because the work wasn’t too time consuming most of my language learning was outside the classroom because I could go outside and make friends and talk to Spanish speakers. It was important because I learned more about Spanish than I ever could. I didn’t even know they had a civil war. Some of the best parts was when Easter happened, my Latin culture professor took us out and got us Easter candies that were traditional to the holiday season. My Spanish culture professor took us to a lot of museums located in Valencia. We learned so much in exploring the city and seeing the options that city had for us. It was great to have to have opportunities with the professor inside the classroom, but also to have them take us out of the classroom.

What was the social life like?

My program was really good about hosting events for all the American students to grow close together and bond. They took us on trips around Spain, so I traveled with people I knew. I had classes with 25 of them so I became close to them. After a couple weeks we’d start to hang outside the LE, we’d play soccer together, and go to the beach together. These people became my closest friends. It was nice to be friends with them because they really wanted to share their culture with us. They would take us to Valenica soccer games, they’d invite us to paella parties, which were parties where we sent to someone’s house cooked paella for six hours and shared stories. It was a good time to spend time with people. They showed us parts of the city that tourists that we’d never go to. What I loved most about having Spanish friends it is that you’d see them every day, we’d go to a café after class and sit there for an hour or two before dinner. We would go to surrounding villages by trains. Some of my friends were not English speakers, so that helped my Spanish immensely to be able to get closer to people. I made connections there that will last a lifetime. I will definitely be going back sometime to visit them.

What advice would you give someone who is debating studying abroad?

Studying abroad is a type of experience that is what you’d make it, everyone has a different experience, you can go there and not make any friends outside the Americans, you can travel every weekend, you can assimilate in the culture since you are there a long time, but it ultimately becomes what you want to get out of it. It’s a cool opportunity to go somewhere and become a person where there is no expectations by you and you have such a raw experience that will become an important part of your life.

 

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Student Spotlight: Mechanical Engineering and Studying Abroad

Alex Heiman is a senior mechanical engineering major. She and I have been friends for years, and I find her story and passion for her studies inspiring and noteworthy. I recently had the pleasure of sitting down and discussing her experience as a mechanical engineering student at Grove City College. I hope that if this major intimidates you and you have hesitations about pursuing it, you will find her words encouraging. On the other hand, if you simply want to gain more information about what the college experience of a mechanical engineering major looks like, I hope you will find her responses relevant and helpful.

What made you decide to study mechanical engineering?

The biggest influence on my decision to become a mechanical engineering major was my dad. He pushed me in this direction. I saw what he was doing as an engineer and I gained interest. It also helps that I enjoy math and science, and wanted to pursue a major that featured these subjects.

What do you enjoy most about being a MECE (Mechanical Engineer)?

I enjoy the tight community of engineers on campus. It is such a blessing to be able to go to anyone in my class and ask questions about homework. I have become very close to my classmates, especially after studying abroad. I also enjoy the challenge of my major and solving the complex problems I am required to solve.

How have you been challenged most as a MECE?

I have been greatly challenged by the professors at Grove City College. They all are great teachers, and push me to understand theory behind concepts and not simply plug numbers into a formula. This has been something that has really pushed me to dig deeper and understand more.

What professor has stood out to you most?

Dr. Clauss, only female MECE professor, has had a great impact on me. She exemplifies what a smart, professional woman in engineering looks like. She is very passionate about what she teaches, and greatly cares about her students. She is very well informed and is very helpful during office hours, even with tasks like scheduling.

You had the opportunity to study abroad your fall semester junior year. Would you recommend studying abroad?

Yes, I definitely would. Studying abroad was a life changing experience, and was the best semester of my college journey. I greatly enjoyed experiencing other cultures and traveling for a great price. I was also able to grow closer to my fellow peers, and the engineering community with the other students who studied abroad. One of my favorite memories from studying abroad was when I traveled to Nice, France. The beautiful scenery and fun activities (such as going to a Christmas market and riding a Ferris wheel) made for a very memorable trip.

Can you talk a little bit about what its like to be a female engineering student?

When I first came to Grove City College, I was nervous because I knew there weren’t a lot of girls in the program. This intimidated me. As the years went on I grew closer with my peers. These relationships especially grew when I studied abroad. Now, I feel comfortable with my major and my ability, thanks to my professors and relationships with fellow students.

What advice do you have for students who are looking to study mechanical engineering?

I would say that engineering is a rewarding major. However, it is difficult. As long as you are motivated, driven, and work hard, you’ll be just fine.

 

 

 

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Engineering Semester Abroad in France

Every year, Grove City College sends a group of engineering students to Nantes, France to study abroad.

It’s an incredible and unique opportunity for the engineering majors on campus. With such a specialized courseload, very few colleges can offer a study abroad experience within the engineering department like Grove City College does.

Last semester Alex Watt had a chance to interview Dr. Bright, the chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering while he was in France. Dr. Bright shared his experience with the program and encourages students to be a part of it.

For more information about the Nantes, France Engineering program, check out the Study Abroad for Engineers page on the Grove City College website.