I studied abroad in Barcelona in spring 2013 and in Cuba summer 2013
My program was called Global Seminar: Race, Class & Gender and the economic system
or political system in Cuba
I went to Argentina on a public health program with SIT
I attended in New South Wales, in spring 2014
I am Executive Director for Student Success with the Office of Diverisity, Equity, and
Community Engagement
We've certainly worked with students who had doubts about whether or not they
could make an international experience happen
One of the major deterrents I had or maybe fears I had was financially maybe this wouldn't be feasible
My greatest barrier was the financial aspect of it
For those students who are wondering whether or not this is financially feasible,
I would encourage them to go for it!
Starting the application process and looking at all the difference scholarships that became available to me
I realized that I could probably swing it
What I found out through the Study Abroad office and other people on my program
is there's plenty of scholarships that help you out.
There's so much aid available especially for people that have never been abroad
Our study abroad advisors also gave us advice as to what other resources we could use.
For example, raise money, writing a sponsorship letter
You'd be surprised many resources there are on this campus in the Internation Education and
Study Abroad networks, opportunities for students to be eligible for scholarships to fund their experience
I ended up getting a big, substantial scholarship through the Study Abroad office
and also through the program itself so I was able to pay for most of it which was really great for me.
Most of my trip was paid for.
The Study Abroad Office can definitely make it possible if you're willing to put in the effort
We're looking for ways to help make it more possible for more of these students to have that
as part of their CU experience.
At CU, people would be surprised to know about 20%
of our student population are First Generation in their family to go to college.
At first my parents were not too happy about me wanting to go abroad
Being that I was going to go to Cuba, my parents were a little worried because
there's no way that they can just call me or email me, send me a text
For Spain my parents were like, they're not used to any of this, they're not used to
people going abroad or they don't know.
The Study Abroad Office gave us tips, I know there's a packet for parents specifically
Some of the information was available in Spanish for them since they only speak Spanish
My parents speak Spanish and when I actually got over there they became friends with my host parents
because they could speak Spanish to them
The Study Abroad Office they offer a lot of tips for parents
You know, contact information for parents, stuff like that
So at the end of the day everything worked out fine.
The Study Abroad Office is always keeping an eye on you and they choose program that are
very focused on safety.
The students were able to tell their parents: this is how I can do it, this is how I can pay for it
And so that's very rewarding when students are able to put that together and have an experience
and bring it back to their families and share what it meant to them.
I had always wanted to study abroad as soon as I got to CU and I knew that was going to be
a priority for me, but graduating in four years was also a priority
Absolutely did not affect my ability to graduate on time
It didn't affect at all my graduation date
All the classes I took while I was abroad did count toward my major
All the classes I chose fit within my major.
The Study Abroad Office they offer a huge list of what those credits will transfer in as
It really helps to just have that relationship with your advisors and with the Study Abroad staff as well
because they are there to help you, they want you to go abroad and have this experience and
be able to bring it back.
The Study Abroad office was fantastic throughout the whole thing.
The Study Abroad office actually helped us out a lot.
They gave me plenty of great advice on places I could go, options.
Any email, you call them and they're ready for you for whatever question it is.
For me being the first time out of the country they really
held my hand through the whole thing and it was really
great to have that level of support.
Basically everything went smooth for us thanks to the Study Abroad office.
For students hesitating about this, I would encourage
you to start inquiring.
It's going to change your life and it's going to open your
eyes to different things that you never would have imagined
Do it. You might be afraid now but do it.
It will change your life.  It's so awesome.
Just being able to look at the world from a
different perspective is so important.
Even if it's a five-week Study Abroad program or
a four-week Study Abroad program
it's something that will open your eyes amazingly.
There's a lot of resources on this campus that can help
students and a lot of students don't know that,
especially being first generation.
Even if you're hesitant, even if you're afraid a little bit
you'll definitely get over it and guaranteed you'll love it.
It's one of the greatest things that could happen.
You stand to benefit more than you would imagine
and so I just encourage you to go for it, again.
