She starts off her day waking up in her dorm room, better known as The Spires. After getting dressed for the day and putting on her shoes, Lydia Jones walks out the door, where she is met by large iron gates. As the gates open, she begins walking down the cobble stone streets and is met with the crisp light rain on her cheeks, cloudy skies above and greeted kindly by strangers passing by. Making her way downtown toward Oliver Plunkett street, she enters the Cork Church building for 11 a.m. service. As she prays with her newfound Christian friends, Jones comes to realize that she’s not too far from home after all.
“It’s great to know that there are people that can share the same faith with you wherever you go,” Jones said.
Her new church is located in Cork, Ireland, 3,299 miles away from her hometown of Glenn Dale, Maryland. Jones, 22, is one of the 14,549 students in America who studied abroad during the 2020-2021 year, according to Open Doors. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic at its height, some study abroad programs remained open to give eager students the chance to explore the great big world.
Deciding to study abroad is often motivated by the desire to travel to a new location and learn about a culture different from your home country. In addition to this, study abroad provides students with the chance to learn a new language, diversify their connections with others and experience new perspectives. Approximately one in 10 U.S. students study abroad during their undergraduate career, according to a 2018 Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange. For some students, the decision to study abroad is life changing.
“I think any opportunity you get to travel abroad, you should take it as fast as you can just because you learn so much about different culture,” Jones said.
Jones, who graduated from Quinnipiac University in 2022, studied at University College Cork during the fall 2021 semester. As a self-identifying African American woman, she was nervous to travel to a country where she would be in the minority. However, despite Jones’ mild uneasiness, her parents who supported her every step of the way, encouraged her to travel to the Green Island.
Once in Ireland, she found community within her church group and volunteering at a local thrift store that raised money to build sustainable homes in Africa. Jones made many friends with other international students from places like Sweden and she quickly recognized that even with distance between countries, she could find commonalities among different walks of life.
“I think that it’s important, not only for us to experience, but also for other people to learn about us as well. It can be a mutually beneficial relationship,” Jones said. “I talked to some people over there, and they had a lot of misconceptions about African Americans based on what they see on TV. Then after talking to me, they realized, ‘She’s more related than I thought.’ You find those common similarities. So, I think it’s important for us to go and debunk the stereotype that people have.”
While study abroad participation has increased in recent years, minority students are still underrepresented, according to the National Association of International Educators. In 2020-2021, African American students made up 4.1% of students abroad, compared to the 68.3% of white students. Despite the underrepresentation in minority students abroad, Jones was able to leave a lasting impression on those she encountered in her Irish community.
Study abroad can look different for students. There are options to stay for one semester or an entire year. Live with a host family or in a dorm. Take a gap year to explore on your own or apply for a study abroad program. Or perhaps, study in a country where you know the language or not.
Max Rosinksi, 21, had the opportunity to try a bit of everything. A senior economics major and Spanish minor at Quinnipiac University, he studied abroad last summer in Salamanca, Spain, for six weeks as part of an independent study.
He lived with a Spanish–speaking host family, took Spanish language courses, and learned about Spanish culture. During his time there, he also learned about Spanish family norms such as eating dinner at 9 p.m. and expressing more outward forms of love like hugging and kissing.
“It was a life-changing experience, and totally just gave me the travel bug,” Rosinski said. “I wanted to see the world now and see how other people live. It was so inspiring to me.”
Salamanca is located about 130 miles west of Madrid, the richest city in Spain. However, following this experience, Rosinski took an education course at Quinnipiac that included a short-term travel component to the town of San Lucas Tolimán in Guatemala for 10 days. In San Lucas, where Mayan families live in the rural highlands impacted by poverty, Rosinski reflected on his own privilege. The population in his hometown of Berlin, Connecticut is 88.8% white, whereas Hispanics or Latinos make up 4.9% and Black people 0.4%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
“I grew up in a very small town, conservative area,” Rosinksi said. “A lot of people here are very ignorant, and I mean so many of my friends, I just want to be like, you really need to take a trip like this to open your mind because it can be totally life–changing.”
Eileen Zhuang, a senior health science major and nutrition minor at Quinnipiac, also participated in the Guatemala opportunity. By leaving her hometown of Queens, New York, she grasped the importance of learning from the people of other countries and cultures rather than “saving” them. In the book “No More Heroes” by Jordan Flaherty, he explains, “Saviors want to support the struggle of communities that are not their own, but they believe they must remain in charge. The savior always wants to lead, never follow.”
Understanding this concept, Zhuang chose to participate in an “equal exchange of learning” between the Guatemalan students and Quinnipiac students through what they called a “peace jam.” The peace jam teaches Guatemalan students from the Pavarotti Center leadership skills to prepare them for future leadership roles. In addition to this, the Guatemalan students performed traditional Mayan dances and the Quinnipiac students shared with them American dances like the Cha Cha Slide.
“I really enjoyed how it was an equal exchange of information instead of us just giving and giving. The whole experience was a lot of us learning from them because there’s so much knowledge they can offer,” Zhuang said.
For students who want to study abroad, there are professionals at universities and colleges around the world who help students get to the destination of their dreams. Some of these professionals were inspired by their own study abroad experiences while they were in college to make this into a life-long career.
This is surely the case for Mary Steele who serves as the resident coordinator for Quinnipiac University at University College Cork in Ireland. When students from Quinnipiac arrive to Cork, she is the first welcoming face they see. Throughout the semester, she takes students around the city to get to know their new home and plans programs such as wellness weekends and tea dates. For Steele, she finds her job very rewarding and is delighted to know that students can return home from studying abroad with the mindset that they can accomplish anything they put their minds to.
“I suppose it sounds a bit funny, but I mean, the more people are crying on the bus going away, the happier I am, because I feel they’ve had a really good time then,” Steele said.
This is also true for Quinnipiac University’s Associate Director of Education Abroad Programs, Mark Tortora. In 2004, he boarded the plane and landed in Scotland to embark on his study abroad journey. Oddly enough, while he has not traveled back to Scotland since his departure, Tortora has built a career that helps other students experience a learning adventure unlike no other.
“It was very difficult to be back home. It would be many days of emotional tug of war,” Tortora said, reflecting on his return to the states. “So, because it was so emotionally impactful for me, I was so determined to figure out how I was going to bring this light to other students because of how significantly beautiful it was for me. I wanted to ensure that other students could have that similar experience.”
Since 2007, he has guided students who want to pursue study abroad opportunities and provides them with the resources to achieve that. He holds information sessions, breaks down financial costs and works with Quinnipiac’s partner schools like University College Cork in Ireland.
More recently in 2012, Tortora developed an online blogging course titled, Rites of Passage, in which students document and reflect upon their time abroad. The course is based on the Rites of Passage theory established by philosopher Arnold van Gennep. Essentially, people who undergo a rite of passage experience a change from their old status or identity and enter a period of growth which leads them to their new status or identity. By having students reflect and write about the experiences they have while abroad, it helps them to further analyze how their new world view has positively shaped who they are as a person.
“You see, students who go abroad for a whole semester, and they say the experience was awesome and it was wonderful. And it was, it was,” Tortora said. “Students that have taken this course can provide and contextualize the experience in a more meaningful way.”
Additionally, Erin Sabato, the Director of Global Learning at Quinnipiac University, was inspired by her travels to places like Nicaragua and Costa Rica to make this into her career. Today she oversees short term experiential learning opportunities and travels with students to various locations. She has recently traveled to Guatemala and Barbados.
“I work with some of the most incredible and driven and motivated students,” Sabato said. “I’m a believer in the power of this kind of transformational opportunity and so my goal is always to be able to provide any student that wants this opportunity to be able to help them get there.”
Quinnipiac is part of a consortium with other colleges and universities dedicated to promoting and advancing ethical global engagement. The data collected enables schools to compare and rate how well their study abroad programs are doing and what goals they are reaching. Since 2017 Quinnipiac study abroad students receive an anonymous survey to complete prior to leaving on their trip and when they return. They answer questions designed to analyze cultural humility, global citizenship, and critical reflection.
According to a 2019 survey predating Covid-19, 447 surveys were analyzed based on openness to diversity, cultural adaptability, civic efficacy, political voice, conscious consumption, global civic values and critical reflection. The data showed that after returning from their global learning experience, students showed an increase in being comfortable with learning and interacting with various forms of cultural difference and awareness of oneself as a cultural being. Additionally, there was an increase in confidence to make meaningful civic contributions locally and internationally and intentions to use their civic voice.
“We’ve definitely seen growth in all of the different areas that you would hope students would and you see a positive change,” Sabato said.
Study abroad also opens the doors to employment opportunities and helps students stand out compared to others. A 2018 survey done by Hostelworld, revealed that 41% of employers consider offering a higher salary to students who have studied abroad.
For Rachael Durand, this became her reality. During her time at Quinnipiac University in spring 2018 Durand, went down under to the Gold Coast of Australia to participate in her semester abroad. Known for its mile long beaches and summer sun, Australia gave Durand the chance to experience the slow-paced life and develop a better sense of work life balance. After her semester at Bond University, she went back to Quinnipiac to complete her journalism degree. Only two days after graduation in May 2019, she moved to back Australia, where she got her first full time job at Tailored Media.
“It was probably the best decision I could’ve ever made post college, moving back over there,” Durand said. “What I learned about myself is, I like the version of me over there the best because their way of life is so different than what we have here.”
However, when the COVID-19 pandemic began, she was forced to return to her hometown of East Hampton, Massachusetts where she currently works for Rhyme Digital, doing marketing. One of the most valuable things that study abroad and living abroad taught her was the importance of work-life balance.
“I had no idea what corporate America was like, but I knew what corporate Australia was like,” Durand said. “So when I came back to the States, I knew how I wanted to navigate my career because I knew what work-life, balance could look like. I wanted to mimic that when I came back over here.”
About 77% of employees experience burnout during their jobs, according to Zippa. To avoid this, Durand explained that the working culture in Australia emphasized taking walks along the beach during lunch breaks, getting outside in between meetings and taking days off if needed. Today, Durand practices work-life balance by taking her dog to work for emotional support and walking him during her breaktime.
Studying abroad also opens the doors to living outside of the United States. For some people, their semester abroad turns into a lifetime living overseas.
Albin Salazar, 29, is someone who made the choice to stay abroad full time after his experience abroad. In 2015 he left his hometown of Bridgeport for Bangkok, Thailand, where he studied Thai architecture, Buddhism, language and dance at Thammasat University. As a chemistry major at Southern Connecticut State University, he sought out study abroad to complete humanitarian courses.
“My motivation to go abroad was to get to know a new culture outside of the United States,” Salazar said.
Speaking no Thai, Salazar navigated the new language, ate spicy foods and went face to face with the Thailand heat. He also learned new means of traveling to school, such as taking a small boat across a river to get to campus.
“It’s very hot and very humid, and I would have to go to university dressed in the university’s uniform. So, you have to wear a shirt, and you have to wear pants, and you have to wear a tie, and it’s like 97 degrees and a 100% humidity,” Salazar said with a laugh.
However, despite the heat, he learned that his love for new cultures and living overseas didn’t have to end after his semester abroad. Now in 2023, he has been living in Paris, France, for six years where he has obtained his master’s degree and is on his way to complete his Ph.D from I.N.R.I.A., the French public institute for computer science research. Coming from a Dominican Republic cultural background, living abroad has also made Salazar a multilingual person: he is now able to speak English, Spanish, French and Italian.
“I have actually decided to stay here in Europe for the kind of career that I would like and the kind of lifestyle that I would like,” Salazar said. “France has taught me really well how to fend for your yourself or to navigate between different decisions you have to make, especially when there’s a cultural aspect to it.”
As he anticipates receiving his doctorate, Salazar believes that students who want to go abroad should consider all their options and research the right programs for them.
“I recommend speaking to the respective advisors at your university. Put yourself out there and try to find a comfortable situation for yourself,” Salazar said.
Study abroad is a learning experience that some students are privileged enough to part take in. For these students, they encounter the reality of living in and navigating a country they’ve never been to before. Adapting to a new culture, growing in independence, and making memories that will last a lifetime, study abroad has a way of uniting people and cultures from far and wide.
Working now as a physical therapist aid, Lydia Jones still carries with her the lessons she learned from her time abroad in Cork, Ireland. Not only has she learned about the importance of stepping outside of her comfort zone, but also how to be an advocate for women of color to travel abroad.
“[Studying abroad] challenged me to be more open and it taught me that you can really make connections with people anywhere,” Jones said.