Thinking about studying abroad? Helene did and she absolutely loved it! Here is her study abroad story:
Studying abroad always is alluring to college students. The
idea of experiencing another culture and seeing another corner of the world
seems so exciting. However, many students dream of studying abroad but rarely
make their dreams a reality.
As an engineering student, I felt there were limited study
abroad programs available for me, especially since I had a very strict class
schedule I had to abide by. During January of my sophomore year, I made the
split decision to study abroad in Greece for 6 weeks through a program called
Global LEAD. I chose to apply to this program because it wasn't offering
technical courses in a foreign country, rather offering leadership and service
learning, two classes that were directly applicable to anything I chose to do
in my engineering career. I received notification a few weeks later that I was
accepted into the program, and my preparation for the unknown began!
I began my adventure in Athens for 3 weeks completing
service in refugee and immigrant centers. In addition to the service, I was
able to visit the Acropolis, one of the most iconic beginnings of modern
civilization, and I was able to immerse myself in local culture by becoming
friends with the locals.
We continued on to Crete and Santorini where we completed
our leadership courses. In the islands, everywhere you looked seemed like a
postcard. I bungee jumped in Corinth over the Corinth Canal, watched the iconic
Santorini sunset, hiked a 17.8 km gorge leading to the African Sea.
