Introduction

Hi there! My name is Margaux, and I am a medical anthropology and international studies undergraduate. I’m doing a bioethics master’s in four years, and I would like to work in global health.

Study Abroad Experience

I’ve been lucky enough to go abroad three times. During my sophomore year, I traveled to Morocco for a semester and completed an internship at a local global health non-profit that was working on preventing and treating sexually transmitted diseases among marginalized populations in Morocco. This included sex workers, clients, the LGBTQ community, and sub-Saharan migrants who were living in Morocco undocumented. The other two experiences were both in India. During my first summer in India, I worked at a friend’s former boarding school in her hometown, Dharamshala. We got a Projects for Peace grant to work there and renovate their outdoor community space. After going for the first time, I decided that if I was going to work abroad, I was going to need to learn the language a little bit better. Because I am learning Arabic and already speak French, I was able to complete the internship in Morocco in a relevant local language. So, I went back to India the next summer to learn Urdu.

Was your study abroad experience supported by a grant/special funding?

Yes. For the study abroad semester I had my normal financial aid, scholarship, and tuition combination. Though Morocco is a much cheaper cost of living country, there was an added expense due to housing. The first summer in India was sponsored primarily by the Projects for Peace Grant, the Feldman Internship Grant, and the Rocks and Traub Experiential Learning Fellowship. These were all consolidated under one application, which made it easier. The second summer was fully funded by the state department.

Did your study abroad experience help you develop you linguistic skills? If so, how?

Immersion is definitely essential for language learning. My Arabic wasn’t particularly strong before going to Morocco (though I had been studying) because learning in a classroom is a very different experience. In class, you can anticipate the conversations you’re going to have, and you can have a little cheat sheet of the words you need to know. When having a conversation in real time, you have to make do with the words you already have, you can’t Google anything, and need to think more about your pronunciation. The experiences were essential for improving my Arabic and my Urdu. In my opinion, the best way to learn a language is to be in the community and talk to people.

What were the most meaningful takeaways from your internship experience? How did it enrich you professionally and/or personally?

I have definitely really enjoyed it, having decided to pursue it again and again – it nurtured my little travel bug. I think going from a very structured semester program to a more open-ended program during the summer in India helped me grow confidence in my ability to speak foreign languages and navigate a foreign country, helping me figure out things like how to get money, and how to negotiate in a new environment. The study abroad program is different because you have the university to support you, which makes the transition a little bit less difficult. Overall, each experience built my confidence in living and working abroad and interacting with new people.

Introduction

My name is Elizabeth Miller and I’m a senior double-majoring in International Studies and English, and double-minoring in Russian and Political Science. My current career goals are to be an immigration lawyer, but I’m going to take a gap year to work before applying to law school.

Study Abroad Experience

I had two study abroad experiences. Last year, from January to May 2024, I studied in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany, through the IES Abroad program. The program focused on politics in Europe and the European Union. While I
was there I also volunteered with refugees, teaching children how to swim, and tutoring teenagers in English and Math. I also did a third volunteering experience with the Carl-Schurz-Haus, a German-American organization, where I presented to students at a German high school about American life, life in New York (where I’m from), and what our elections are like. My second study abroad experience was in Riga, Latvia, where I studied Russian for two months.

Was your study abroad experience supported by a grant/special funding?

My experience in Latvia was funded by the U.S. Department of Education through the Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad Scholarship for Intensive Overseas Language Studies. I discovered the program from my Russian professor, as it was sent to her from the University of Georgia; they had received funding to immerse Russian students in language and culture in the Baltics. I also received some funding from CWRU for Germany through a study abroad scholarship.

Did your study abroad experience help you develop you linguistic skills? If so, how?

I definitely left Germany knowing more German that I did going in, so I was able to order coffee in German and order at restaurants. I actually visited Vienna over winter break, and I was able to use it there too. Of course, with Russian, being able to use it in an everyday setting in Riga also helped me learn the language.

What were the most meaningful takeaways from your internship experience? How did it enrich you professionally and/or personally?

It was definitely personally enriching to be able to talk to and to live with people from different cultural environments. In Germany, I lived with 5 suitemates who were around my age. I got to talk to them about their experiences and the German political system, comparing it to our system in the United States, which was really interesting. Living with a host mom in Latvia also gave me a different experience, as she was a little older. Professionally, the experiences helped me develop my language and intercultural communication skills. Overall, living in Europe for 6 months was a really enriching experience, since it was my first time living outside the country. I am excited to keep exploring and learning post-college!

Introduction

My name is Nia Worrell. I’m currently a last semester senior; I graduate May. I’m a double major in computer science and international studies with a minor in computer engineering. As for career goals, I’m focusing more on the computer
science side. I want to go into cybersecurity but am hoping to bring the global aspect from my international studies into it.

Study Abroad Experience

I went to Greece during my spring semester of junior year. I was based in Athens, but I did a lot of traveling outside of the city. I tried to immerse myself in the culture, which was one of my main goals. I tried to visit places
around the east of Europe. My roommates were also international students from Korea, Mexico, and Africa. Living with them was really fun, so that added a lot to my experience.

Did your study abroad experience help you develop you linguistic skills? If so, how?

Absolutely! Obviously I learned Greek, which is a very unique language and different from English. People there often speak English there, but in a different way, so knowing Greek helped me understand little nuances in
conversation. Learning how people add the culture aspect into language was really interesting. Everyone was so willing and happy to teach you these things because you learn the culture and get to take it back home with you.

What were the most meaningful takeaways from your internship experience? How did it enrich you professionally and/or personally?

My international studies focus’s is in global health, so it was interesting to see Greece’s medical situation, especially public insurance, which we don’t have in the U.S. That’s actually what I ended up writing my term paper about. On a personal level, it taught me to be more open. I also learned the ways that friendship dynamics work: in America we have the concept of good friends, close friends, and best friends; in Greece, there are different names, formalities, and expectations associated with these dynamics. That’s definitely something that I’ll use in my life, because theres a different connection there that we don’t necessarily have.

Introduction

I’m Trisha Ghosh, I’m currently a Senior studying computer engineering and international studies with minors in math and philosophy. My career goal right now is to get into cybersecurity, so I have been focusing on international security and diplomacy.

Study Abroad Experience

I studied abroad in New Delhi, India, and my internship was based on data privacy. I worked with an NGO called Pretham, which helps underprivileged students, particularly girls. A new law had come out in India, called the Digital Privacy Protection Act, similar to the GDPI act in Europe, which needed to be extended to companies across India. I worked with a team to come up with an accessibly-worded consent form, which was to be used in underprivileged areas, so that individuals could be made aware of their rights. The consent form was needed to help us record the progress that the students were making at school.

Was your study abroad experience supported by a grant/special funding? How did you approach the financial aspect of your student abroad experience?

I took a semester off to stay in India. New Delhi is my hometown, so I was staying at home and commuting from there. I spoke to my advisor, and was allowed to take a semester off.

What were the most meaningful takeaways from your internship experience? How did it enrich you professionally and/or personally?

Before this experience, I didn’t know how to present information using Excel and PowerPoint or give presentations to showcase my findings. Having different team members help me learn all of that was a valuable experience. Also, before I joined the NGO, there was no database containing information on the different programs and states that people were working in, so I was responsible for creating a database that tracked where and with who everyone was working. This helped me a lot in the computer engineering aspect.

Introduction

My name is Kintan Silvany, I am a fourth-year studying international studies and education. I really want to work in the global sphere of international education, specifically with immigrants and refugees. I want to become a diplomat and possibly become a teacher.

Study Abroad Experience

In the Spring 2024 Semester, I studied abroad at the University of Sydney. I went there to study the Indonesian language. Along with that, I completed an internship at the asylum seeker center, where I was a center support intern. I helped the office and the clients with their daily needs; it was a great experience overall.

Was your study abroad experience supported by a grant/special funding? How did you approach the financial aspect of your student abroad experience?

My study abroad was supported by the Gilman Critical Language Scholarship because I was studying the Indonesian language. I applied the semester before with a lot of help from the Education Abroad Office, especially Ms Cami Ross. She gave me a lot of guidance on how to apply, and a lot of tips. It was really great because it paid for my housing when I was there. I am grateful for the critical language scholarship because it  motivated me to learn the language.

Did your study abroad experience help you develop your linguistic skills? If so, how?

Indonesian is one of my native tongues, but because I grew up in America, I’ve assimilated to English as my native tongue. Growing up, I learned the informal way of speaking Indonesian because of being in a casual setting, like talking to my family. The experience helped me strengthen my vocabulary and learn how to differentiate between the formal and informal ways of speaking, which was really useful.

What were the most meaningful takeaways from your internship experience? How did it enrich you professionally and/or personally?

It really taught me what I do and don’t want to do. Originally, I thought of going into teaching right after graduation, but after the internship I realized that I want to do more community work and help people in the immigrant and refugee population. I like direct service work more than behind-the-scenes work; I think that the biggest impact you can have in a person’s life is by actually being in it.