Educational experiences in global proportions

By Lance Dwyer

As study abroad week comes to a close, many Santa Clara students are deciding whether or not they will be one of the roughly 300 students who leave the Mission campus every year to study in more than 20 countries around the world.

For Briar Goldberg, who spent last fall quarter in Florence, Italy, the decision to study abroad was the best one she had ever made. Goldberg said that among many other benefits, studying abroad allowed her to see beyond the bubble of Santa Clara.

"Studying abroad requires preparation and forethought, which is exactly why Santa Clara developed the study abroad week. Throughout each day of study abroad week, Benson Memorial Center was filled with several tables representing various programs from around the world. There were also several informational sessions that explained each program or discussed the logistical aspects of studying abroad.

Barbara Colyar, international programs associate director, said that she hopes the week will effectively raise interest for the unique opportunity of international abroad. Colyar said the week is designed to help students understand all the fun any given program has to offer, but emphasized the importance of the educational aspect of these programs, as well.

"We are not here as a travel agency. We of course want everyone to have a good time in their international learning experience but it is very important that students look at it as an opportunity to learn something they could not get at Santa Clara," said Colyar.

Out of all the programs offered to students, Colyar said the two most popular countries are Italy and Spain-- with 67 out of the 320 students who studied abroad last year choosing to go to Italy and 73 to Spain. The third and fourth most popular countries are England and Australia, with 57 and 28 students studying their last year, respectively.

Colyar speculates that possible reasons for Italy and Spain's popularity is the fact that many students studying Spanish and Italian like to take the opportunity to strengthen their language skills. She also thinks since Santa Clara is a Catholic school, and Catholicism is the dominant religion in Spain and Italy, it makes for a good fit.

Heather Browne said that although she would like to see students go to a larger variety of places around the world, she understands that each person has their individual interests and needs for studying abroad.

"For some students, going to London is a huge change for them because they've never been that far away from home and although their culture is relatively similar to ours, it's still a huge step for them," said Browne.

For Stephen Chesterton, choosing to go to Italy or Spain would not be enough of a change for him.

"If I went abroad, I wanted it to be as completely different to the United States as possible," said Chesterton.

Chesterton studied in a country that is relatively rarely chosen by Santa Clara students: Kenya. He said that although he was in a rural area of Kenya, he still enjoyed virtually all of the same amenities of a first world country, except for warm water. Chesterton said he feels the extra miles and the vastly different environment from the United States or even Europe gave him an even broader world view.

Browne said the reason most students gravitate toward four or five countries in particular even though there are more than 125 programs to choose from is that many are unaware of all of the options.

"Many students hear from a friend that a certain program is excellent and so they have it set in their minds they want to go to do a certain program. But what they don't realize is that all of our programs are excellent. I really enjoy it when a student comes in with an open mind and I can just go in there and show them all the different possibilities," said Browne.

Browne said in some cases when students want to go to France to study the French language, she'll suggest another country, such as Senegal, that also speaks French. If a student is primarily concerned with finding a program that fits his or her major, Browne might also suggest a country they'd never thought of such as Hong Kong or El Salvador.

Among the reservations students have about studying abroad, Browne said, is the notion that they will be missing out on a lot at Santa Clara. But she often tells students that when those who have studied abroad come back, they find that nothing has changed.

"I've heard students tell me how they find that people are still doing the same thing, going to the same classes. I can't think of anyone who has come back and wished they hadn't missed out on what happened at Santa Clara," said Browne.

Some of the reasons Browne gives to students to study abroad include the ability to allow one's education to come alive.

"It's a way of complimenting their education here and introducing yourself to new ideas and new places," said Browne.

Contact Lance Dwyer at (408) 554-4546 or at ldwyer@scu.edu.