Vibrant and colorful flags hung from more than 20 tables in upstairs Lakeside Sept. 17, each one representing the different countries that Elon University students have been to and the places Elon students will continue to study abroad.
The Global Engagement Semester Showcase was held by the Elon Global Engagement Center for students to learn more about available Study Abroad and Study USA programs.
Many places, such as Spain, listed multiple programs for a single destination depending on the prospective student’s interest.
Energetic global ambassador students sat at each of the tables, waiting to tell prospective travelers about the programs they went on.
“As a global ambassador, we are a group of students that are passionate in encouraging students to go abroad because we all had experiences that touched our lives in indescribable ways,” said senior Elizabeth Fraser.
A full immersion
All the global ambassadors wanted to share their stores and convince prospective travelers to go somewhere that might be outside their comfort zone.
“I went to Brazil for a semester without knowing anyone or having any knowledge of Portuguese,” Fraser said. “Although this was scary, I returned with lifelong friendships, memories, perspectives and an academic understanding that would have been hard to get at Elon.”
Fraser went on the trip to Salvador, Brazil, called, “Public Health, Race and Human Rights.”
Some students raised concerns about feeling truly immersed in the country they intended on visiting. While some programs typically draw a large Elon crowd, others are less popular.
“Even though I went to Spain, I didn’t have to hang out with Elon people or see them if I didn’t want to,” said senior global ambassador Alexandra Cantone. “There were four or five of us in each program in Spain, so it was nice because we had that option to meet up if we wanted to. But the city was so big, I really didn’t run into them.”
Though many students have been to the same places, each student’s experience was unique. students lived in a home-stay for the duration of their semester abroad, which means they lived with a native family in the country.
“I think that’s so awesome,” said sophomore Ashleigh Straub. “It would be so cool to have a second family somewhere so far from home.”
Others stayed in dorms for an experience more similar to Elon’s campus. On Elon’s study abroad website, each program lists the living situation, along with other information to make the
choice easier.
Semester on deck
Students are not limited to one country a semester. For those who want the ability to travel to many countries in just a few months, Semester at Sea is an option without creating a plan to travel to a different country.
“I really want to study abroad but it was so hard deciding on one place to go,” Straub said. “When I heard about Semester at Sea, I knew I had to do it.”
The Semester at Sea program travels to a myriad of different countries in its four-month journey. The itinerary depends on the season the student is traveling and the current. Students arrive at one location, travel and study on land a few days, and then return to the ship to continue their journey.
“I just thought to myself, ‘When am I going to get another opportunity like this in my life to go to this many places ever again?’” Straub said.
Straub is also interested in completing her lab science requirement abroad, which Semester at Sea offers. Global ambassadors encourage students to save some of their general education requirements in case the course equivalents don’t align with their majors.
Throughout the event, students consistently trickled into the fair, discovering new possible destinations and exploring old places of interest.
“The purpose of the semester fair was to give students the opportunity to talk to alums of former abroad programs in order to gain a better understanding of where they might like to go, but also introduce some programs that Elon offers that may not be as well known,” Fraser said.
At the end of the fair, a GoPro was raffled off to one student. The hope was that the student will take the GoPro to their semester away and documents some of the wonderful experiences he or she will have abroad.