An Italian-English dictionary has practical uses in the classroom, but it doesn't develop dog-ears and a tattered cover until it spends six months with an American student living in Italy with three Italian guys who speak only broken English.
An Italian-English dictionary has practical uses in the classroom, but it doesn't develop dog-ears and a tattered cover until it spends six months with an American student living in Italy with three Italian guys who speak only broken English.
For Corey Cook, his semester abroad in Italy took him not only to a world of battered translation dictionaries, but to one of beyond-the-book experiences.
" I first got interested in going abroad when I realized that most of the things I was interested in studying (Ancient Greek and Roman) might best be studied in some place like Rome," Cook said.
HC offers direct student exchange programs in seven countries. HC tuition and scholarships transfer for classes taken abroad. In addition, the college has consortium agreements with six more schools, in which federal student aid will usually transfer.
Destination countries include Germany, England, Ireland, Russia, Thailand, the Netherlands, Italy and more. Dr. Anne Fairbanks, associate academic dean, is the first faculty member a student should contact if they are interested in going abroad. Several deadlines have to be met and the student's schedule has to be organized, but the opportunities are there.
" Hastings College will work with individual students so that they can [go abroad]," Fairbanks said. " Sometimes a particular program won't work for a student for various reasons, but we try to find something for everybody."
Cook studied in Teramo, Italy, at the University of Teramo. He began preparing by taking classes in Hastings.
" I got advice from Dr. Rob Babcock, the chair of the history department," Cook said. "He helped me prepare myself for the culture shock of living in a country in which I was not fluent with the native tongue. "
Studying abroad is not a consideration to be taken lightly. The process to choose, pay for, and execute a six-month-long adventure takes its toll.
"I filled out a novel's worth of paperwork, applied for my student visa, booked my plane tickets and tried to prepare myself mentally for the experience of living in a foreign country, not knowing anyone or having anyone immediately around who I could run to for help," Cook said.
Heidi Hullinger, who went to Ireland in the spring of 2009 and continues to reap the benefits of her experience.
"You don't realize what kind of academic or progressive things we do here, " she said. " You don't really appreciate it until you see what other schools are doing and you meet people from other schools."
Hullinger went for the Irish-American scholars program, a connection that HC has through the Presbyterian Church USA. She attended class two days a week and had the opportunity to travel and sight-see in her free time. Her tuition and fees were not much more than what she would have paid on campus.
"My exchange program was basically paying Hastings tuition and my tuition over there was covered by the program I was in," she said. " You have to figure out what you're interested in and what's feasible. There are so many unique programs, you might as well go somewhere where they are going to teach you exactly what you want to learn about."
Normally, HC sends between ten and fifteen students abroad every year. This year, numbers are down by almost half because of the recession.
"People are saving their extra money and no one can blame them for that," Fairbanks said.
However, studies abroad give students an edge in the classroom and in the workforce. Not only do students often learn a language and experience another culture, studies abroad are beneficial to resumes and graduate school applications.
" It sends all sorts of great messages," Fairbanks said. "If a student can come up with the money, they do get their money's worth."
"When you're in a culture that's different, you learn so much and people just have a heck of a lot of fun," she said. HC will host a travel abroad meeting Friday at 10 a.m. in HSU.
People who are thinking they might want to study abroad should come if they possibly can, Fairbanks said. They'll have a chance to ask questions of students who have gone abroad and consult faculty.
