Study Abroad!

Something MSU advertises a lot but still doesn't get as much attention as it should is their Study Abroad program. You may have heard the statistics: over 200 programs in about 50 countries around the world.

I have heard study abroad-related presentations countless times both before I came to MSU and while I have been a student here, but it wasn't until recently that I started to seriously consider it. It takes a certain amount of bravery to completely move to a foreign country for almost half of a year, and sometimes for a whole year. Then there is the whole question of how expensive it will be, and the social factor. I'll be honest: after making a lot of friends during my freshman year, I was not about to leave for a whole semester so soon. The prospect of having my own house off campus with my friends was too exciting for me.

This year, when faced with the prospect of studying abroad again, more excuses arose. I'm going to be a junior next year; won't it be hard to take classes relating to my major without getting behind? And the money...always the money.

But now I'm serious. This fall I heard about a six-week summer program in Costa Rica and decided it was the very least I could do to immerse myself in a Spanish-speaking country. My plan was to go to Costa Rica for the first part of the summer and then take summer school for the second summer session. Then, this week in my Spanish 102 class, a representative from the Study Abroad office came to talk to us; she was a senior who had spent a year in England. I realized that going to Costa Rica for a measly six weeks was not the real deal. Besides, going for only six weeks would almost be as expensive as going somewhere for a whole semester—a lot of the programs cost exactly the same as MSU tuition, and scholarships still apply. Furthermore, for out of state students, they could be cheaper than attending MSU for a semester.

On Thursday, I attended a Study Abroad info session and now I have an appointment with the Study Abroad advisor on Monday. I'm really excited now; I went to Ecuador with my family over the summer and I loved it, and I really want to go somewhere in South America, hopefully Chile. My newly revised plan is to attend both sessions of summer school and get somewhat ahead that way (and hopefully improve my Spanish proficiency), and then not worry about what credits will apply to my major when I'm actually studying abroad, because it's more about the experience, and the grades are pass/fail. Furthermore, I would still be back in Bozeman just in time for the ski season! Could it get any better? Probably not...

Anyway, I would highly recommend looking into the study abroad programs when you are a freshman and plan on going as a sophomore, because I have heard that many people come back and want to go somewhere else, which gets less and less plausible the further they are in school.

If you're interested, check out MSU's study abroad website: http://www.montana.edu/international/studyabroad/.

Have a good weekend!