Study Abroad

The University of Illinois provides students with hundreds of opportunities.  One of the many opportunities students are able to participate in is study abroad.  The University offers programs within the College of ACES, or you can travel with a different College.  As an incoming student you many not have thought about study abroad, or really want to participate and already have a specific location you want to visit.  Before coming to the U of I, I never put much thought into study abroad.

Transferring into the University as a junior, I heard stories of students studying abroad but never though much about it until recently.  I thought I never had time before graduation and I did not want to spend more than a few weeks overseas.Little did I know what I would be doing a year later.

I thought there was no way I would ever be able to study abroad until one of my friends, Kaitlyn, went to Belgium for a month in June.  While Kaitlyn was in Belgium she wrote a blog (www.kaitlyngoesglobal.blogspot.com) about her experiences and everything seemed like so much fun.  Although she took a class while in Belgium, she was able to travel to Paris, London, and so many other beautiful cities.

Kaitlyn's blogs inspired me to dig deeper into study abroad and I kept thinking of the common saying, "you won't have time for traveling after graduation." I then took the initiative and looked into a study abroad program.  Better yet, I found a class within my major that will study abroad for two weeks! Something even better than that was I looked further into the program where there were a lot of scholarships available to help with funding. Perfect!

Currently, I am in the process of applying for the study abroad trip and will not find out until September if I am accepted.  So there I was, just a year ago thinking that I will never have the time to travel before graduation.  However, here I am, applying to study abroad for the perfect amount of time and pertaining to my interest of study.

The College of ACES has a wide range of programs available.  Among these are trips only for Freshman including: Dominican Republic, Jamaica, London, Paris, Singapore, and more! You can find the complete list and requirements on the ACES Study Abroad webpage for freshmen: http://students.aces.illinois.edu/study_abroad/freshmen

Even though I found a destination that fit my interest with a class I am going to enjoy, there are options of creating your own study abroad trips! I am not an expert on this, but it is available and you also get to plan your own itinerary.  If you have ever thought about studying abroad, I encourage you to look into the programs the University of Illinois offers.

For more information on ACES Study Abroad visit: http://students.aces.illinois.edu/study_abroad you can also contact Dawn Berg for an appointment at dawnberg@illinois.edu or calling (217)333-3380. 

Also, stop by the study abroad fair on September 8th from 11:00am-4:00pm in the Illini Union.