Imports and exports: Students return from and head abroad

Last fall, 154 students studied in 28 different countries. They return to campus this spring as another 241 take off for 32 countries. 

“On the first day of school, I strode confidently into a lecture classroom rivaling an auditorium in size. I was slightly perplexed when I noticed a merry band of chattering Japanese students slowly filing in to a class that, as I understood, would be taught in English.”

So writes Deja Jackson ’15 on her blog, Déjà vu Tokyo, when she discovers she has walked into the wrong class while studying in Japan.

Jackson is one of 124 Skidmore students who studied abroad last fall; she is also one of 30 who have chosen to remain abroad for the entire year. Hired by the Office of Off-Campus Study and Exchanges to blog during her semester in Tokyo, Jackson documented everything from traveling through typhoons to registering for academic courses to her emotional reaction to visiting Hiroshima. 

Among the returnees are 31 members of the Class of 2017 who joined the London First-Year Experience Program. The Office of Off-Campus Study and Exchanges (OCSE) offers support and hosts events especially for these new students to help ease their transition into campus life.

Next semester’s 241 travelers will be studying in 32 different countries, from Mongolia to Argentina to the Czech Republic (map of all locations). Two students will blog about their experiences: Sophie Dodd ’16, who participated in the London FYE program as a freshman and is now heading to France, and Emily Hendry ’15, who will experience Caribbean life in Turks and Caicos.

 

“Students are already choosing to blog abroad - the OCSE blogger program is our attempt to share these insights on studying abroad with the Skidmore community,” says Eliza Camire-Akey, OCSE Program Manager.  “Blogging is a great way for students to keep a record of all the things they experienced while living in another country. It will also, hopefully, serve as a mechanism for reflection both during their time abroad and when they return home.”

With approximately 58% of students studying abroad at least once during their four years, Skidmore was recently ranked sixth (open doors report, Institute for International Education) among the top 40 baccalaureate institutions for the number of students studying abroad for one semester, and ranked 28th for the total number of students studying abroad. Students can choose from 136 programs in 47 countries, including eight Skidmore-run programs.

For more information, visit Off-Campus study and Exchanges. To read the student blogs, click here.