Over and out: whisk away with studies abroad
By Amy Chan
Right now, in the midst of winter quarter midterms, going abroad seems nearly impossible. For most students on this campus, the idea may have crossed our minds once or twice, but students have a hard time carrying through with such plans. It seems as if those students who go abroad are usually those from the College of Arts and Sciences, or occasionally a handful of business students.
As a political science major, I began the search for the right study abroad program while waiting for my Introduction to U.S. Politics class to begin. I actually found my program, called the Washington Semester at American University, on a bulletin board in the lobby of the Arts and Sciences Building.
At the time I didn't realize that Santa Clara has established relations with other universities in order for students to have more opportunities to travel abroad.
Knowing this, if I go abroad again, I would definitely look into another school affiliated with Santa Clara. This relationship makes tuition, transferring credits and communication easier.
My experience in D.C. consisted of interning two days a week and enrollment in an unconventional class three days a week. I worked as an intern for my home district representative, Congressman Blumenauer of the 3rd district of Oregon.
The classes were unconventional because in addition to lectures and discussions, our professor invited guest speakers from important organizations, such as the World Bank and the World Wildlife Fund. Our class often left campus to meet with these guest speakers.
The atmosphere of D.C. is one of professionalism. Out of a dozen topics to choose from in the political science department, I chose to study international environment and development.
While there I chose to complete a research paper on the Fair Trade Movement, and found people on the east coast are not as cold as I thought. I was able to interview various representatives of companies and organizations willing to offer their positions on the progressive trade initiative.
On Nov. 1, I traveled to Brazil from D.C. Brazil was a field trip, a case study for our class to see examples of forestry and fishery management, governmental conservation efforts and local community politics of slums and rural areas.
Since returning I have a more focused understanding of what I want to do with my major and I have decided to double major in environmental studies. I truly recommend trying to find a program that works for your major, although it isn't necessary to be declared. Either way, you can definitely spend a term away from Santa Clara and still earn enough credits to graduate on time.
û Amy Chan is a sophomore political science and environmental studies major.