This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at MSU chapter.
Maggie Johnson, a sophomore at Michigan State University, would recommend any student, if they can, to take the opportunity to study abroad.
“It’s just an experience that no one can really take away from you,” she said.
Johnson is a sophomore at MSU who studied in Iceland as a part of the First-Year Seminar Abroad. This is an opportunity for incoming freshmen to gain college credit before starting classes in the fall.
According to U.S. News & World Report, MSU’s study abroad program ranks No. 8 in the top ten programs nationally. Students who have joined a program found themselves heavily impacted by the experience afterward.
“I was honestly debating on living there,” said Johnson.
Her experience abroad impacted her so much that Johnson said that she could recite every moment of the trip.
“I can remember everything I learned on that trip to this day. I can tell you all about how they use geothermal energy to power the entire country. I can tell you all about that”
She found the education portion wonderful, but the culture fascinated her the most.
“But mainly what I learned was learning of a different culture, the people in Iceland. Learning that was super cool compared to people here,” she said.
Although classes are in session Bella Denton had no issue with the workload.
“They were very aware that we wanted to go see landmarks, so they didn’t assign so much homework,” said Denton. “They gave a lot of class time.”
Denton, a Junior at MSU studied in Italy and France for public relations and advertising.
She quickly made a group of friends who managed to explore and get their work done.
“We all sat down for a day and were like, okay, we knocked this project out in one day,” said Denton.
The selling point for this program was Denton being able to attend the “Cannes Festival of Creativity.”
“That’s a huge opportunity that people like, high up in the industry don’t even get,” said Denton.
She also puts her study abroad experience on her resume.
“Studying abroad took away from my time to get an internship, but I think it was just as valuable,” she said. “So yeah, I will put it on my resume.”
Studying abroad is thought to be a big decision financially, however; there are ways to help with this.
Adam Budiansky, a senior at MSU, studied in Israel for Jewish studies. He spent two months there on scholarships as that program offered many.
“They give a lot of scholarships for that program, so I was basically able to go for free.”
He also studied in London over his winter break.
Budiansky’s abroad programs gave him a perspective on the world.
“Being able to get out there and see the world, I think that being here in East Lansing is very different from being in a big city.”
He found that going to a different country to study benefited him as he didn’t experience these places as a tourist, but as a student who is learning.
“I still talk to the friends I made in London every day and the friends I made in Israel,” said Budiansky. “It was just a great way to make new friends.”
When Johnson met her friend group, she was able to retell the story flawlessly.
“My friend Hope and I left our door open because it was so hot, so we left our door open to circulate air and two boys just walked in like ‘Hey, you wanna play cards?’ and we were like yeah sure. So, then we started playing cards and our other friends just ended up walking in.”
Meeting the group seems to be something everyone holds close to their heart.
Denton’s first impression of the group set the whole tone for the trip.
“There was this guy named Tyler, and on the first night he ordered a bottle of wine to himself, and I was like oh wow…this is…this is gonna be a good time.”