Twenty-one city college students around the world are midway through their spring semesters abroad, expanding their educations while taking in the rich heritage of their surroundings.
By taking a full-time schedule of courses with the Study Abroad program, City College students are experiencing new lifestyles and cultures, all while earning transferable credits.
In Florence, Italy, City College biology major Luis Rodriguez has used his Roma Pass to ride the Metro, visited the Sistine Chapel and attended mass at the Vatican.
Rodriguez says he is looking forward to spring break when he and other students in the program will travel.
“People are going out to everywhere they want to visit—Amsterdam, anywhere in Europe,” says Rodriguez.
Frank Malaret, dean of the Behavioral and Social Sciences Division and managing director of the Study Abroad program.
Malaret reminds students who consider studying abroad, “It’s an academic program. You’re expected to take a full load of courses. It’s not an opportunity to party.”
Riad Bahhur, professor of history and coordinator of the international studies program, studied classical Arabic in Damascus while a graduate student. He describes his experience as “quite an adventure.”
Bahhur and Malaret are responsible for ensuring there is a variety of classes for students with varying majors, which involve both historical and cultural features of local areas as learning aids.
“We actually think all students would benefit from study abroad,” says Bahhur.
Research shows that students who underachieve or have challenges come back more motivated and tend to do better in school, he adds.
“The actual experience of being outside of your cultural comfort zone and being in another is really stimulating emotionally, intellectually, on many levels,” says Bahhur. “You really notice things about yourself in that environment.”
The courses are created to be hands-on by visiting historical and cultural sites, according to Bahhur. “[The] core goals are to build a global awareness—the goals associated with the particular courses with an emphasis on the location,” he says.
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The American Institute for Foreign Studies, which has facilitated study abroad for 50 years, provides housing, organizing, advice and other services to help facilitate the process for students.
“You don’t have to worry about finding an apartment, visas or paying tuition. All the logistics are taken care of by AIFS,” says Bahhur. “They do all the hard work for you.”
According to David Morrow, AIFS representative, the program gives students an opportunity to meet people from across the world, including other students in the program.
While in Florence, Rodriguez has participated in AIFS-organized activities such as wine tasting, cooking classes and a pizza class.
“You pay a little extra,” he says, but it’s “all worth doing.”
Rodriguez says he’s happy that he decided to study in Florence. “This is a great opportunity. Make sure you save up. Make sure it counts for school. See the world,” he says.
“Students accepted into the program will have meetings and orientation prior to departure that’ll give insight and inform them on how to better prepare,” says Malaret.
Students who begin the process, on average, only need to wait a couple of weeks to find out if they’re going, says Bahhur.
With trips planned through 2017, students interested in a semester abroad need not worry about raising funds immediately.
“It doesn’t hurt to ask questions and consider,” says Bahhur.
Studying abroad helps students to become better global citizens, Bahhur believes.
“The United States is the most powerful country,” he says. “For American young people to have a chance to live somewhere else, to have a sense of the world, it’s good for them, and it’s good for the world.”
Learn more about traveling abroad at http://www.scc.losrios.edu/studyabroad/links/.