Off-Campus Study & My Experience Abroad with IFSA

The following is an computer-generated summary of the video transcript.

I wanted to do a video explaining opportunities for studying abroad at Colgate University and what that experience looks like. I always like to emphasize that cold meat really encourages students to study off campus. We say study off campus because there are many opportunities for you to actually stay in the U. S. There are also many opportunities to travel outside of the U. S. If that's what you're interested in, it's all about catering it to your own interests. There are so many opportunities for you to study off campus called It really encourages students to take advantage of those opportunities. Actually, two thirds of Colgate students will spend a whole semester studying off campus by the time they graduate. Colin is actually the number one undergraduate university in the US for sending students on these semester long off campus study opportunities. I think just the fact that so many students here are setting off campus and that Colgate really gives these opportunities to students because they see the value in studying off campus is something that was hugely important to me when I decided I wanted to go to Colgate for me. I always knew I wanted to study abroad in London, Um, which I will talk about shortly. I was able to fulfill that personal and academic goals again. Cold just offers so many amazing opportunities for you to really take the reins on your dreams and your goals. There are a couple different ways you can study off campus at Colgate in terms of semester long trips hold. You actually travel with Colgate students and a Colgate professor who teaches some of the classes that you take and you spend the semester with them. So in that way you're very, you know, still connected to the Colgate community. They have a pretty extensive list of different study groups, So some have been to Australia, London, Madrid of Africa, Japan, New Zealand, literally all over the world. If you really want to say, you know, connected to Colgate and you want to travel with Colgate professors and students, that's definitely a really great option. There is also an option to do an approved program, which is what I did. Colgate approves over 100 non Colgate off campus study opportunities through these approved programs to over 50 countries around the world. Everywhere you can imagine on essentially every continent, there's an improved program that you're able to do. It also like to highlight the fact that Colgate has a unique offering called an extended Study. You take a class on college campus for a semester, and then after the semester is over, you travel to the place that you learned about for anywhere from about 2 to 5 weeks. There is again such an extensive list of extended study courses that you can do are some coming up that are going to be going to Greece and Rome, New York City, China, Florida Keys, Ghana, the Himalayas, Israel and Poland. You're able to take this course for a semester and then really immerse yourself in what you learned by going to that place with the class. The Professor is just such an awesome, unique opportunity that cold it offers actually able to do one of those extended studies, plus a full semester abroad. You're on financial aid. The financial aid will cover both of those opportunities. In the fall of 2019, I completed a semester long program with the Institute for Study Abroad. EFSA um, at University College, London in London. Like I said, going to London for a semester was a dream come true for me. I chose, if so, because I kind of wanted to get away from the Colgate community for a little bit and kind of venture out into the world and be independent. Um, provided extensive support for me before, During and after the semester abroad. I often went to the office in London while I was there, if I had any questions or we would just talk about the goals that I was setting for myself, EFSA has also centered around future focus study abroad. My time in London with EFSA really allowed me to become a global citizen, really taking those perspectives that I gained in London back with me here on Colgate's campus, EFSA also really emphasized cultural immersion through meaningful engagement with my environment. They planned a lot of excursions around London and in England to get students kind of seeing the things around them, experiencing all the things that London has to offer. One of my favorite trips was at the end of the term we went to the shard, which is the tallest building in London. You know, if the staff was their students on the program, there were able to go to the top of this building for free. We were all just kind of reminiscing on the memories we've made over the term nice memory to look back on. They offered a lot of cool trips, and I think that was something that I really enjoyed because I wanted to make the most of my time abroad and see as much as I could of London. So it was great because they offered so many tools and resources that were helpful to me as a student, kind of navigating the study abroad process. We have a lot of different resources you can use so they have a chart tool where you're able to search for classes that are offered at the universities and decide whether or not you will be able to get credit for them or whether it will work towards your major. Students also can leave blog posts on Esa's unpacked to learn more about studying abroad and personal experiences of students who have studied abroad through its global way. Finder Tool was also helpful in trying to decide which program is best for you. I think the fact that it's kind of made things so easy for me as a student, I didn't have to worry about all the smaller details, and I was really just able to enjoy my time while I was abroad and really immerse myself in the culture of London and in my academics at U. C. L. I really had an amazing experience with, uh I would highly recommend studying abroad with them. So it's just an overview of what studying off campus at Colgate is like and the different opportunities you have as a student, as I hope you've learned from this video, there are a lot of opportunities. Colgate really wants students to study off campus and gain those valuable perspectives and experiences and studying through if this program at U. C. L was the highlight of my college experience.