A college degree provides you with many advantages after you graduate.
A Colgate education, however, not only opens up lots of opportunities once you leave, but while you are studying here as an undergraduate.
One of the most popular ways to take advantage of all Colgate has to offer is to study abroad. As ironic as it sounds that the best way to make the most of your Colgate experience is to leave our beautiful campus, spending a semester in a completely new environment is a chance that few want to miss.
Packing everything I need for three and a half months into two suitcases is a daunting task that I’m not anxious to start, but I already know two items that are on top of my “do not forget” list (right below my copy of Lonely Planet’s Czech Phrasebook: With Two-Way Dictionary): my laptop and digital video camera.
As I spend the next semester taking courses and surrounding myself with Czech culture, I will reflect on my daily discoveries, occasional adventures, and inevitable mishaps on a blog titled Global Colgate.
|
Because I am only one of about 200 Colgate students studying off-campus this semester, my story is not going to be the only one told on this blog.
Amanda Katz ’09 (London), Kali McMillan ’10 (London), Rebecca Plesser ’10 (Australia), Laura Simocko ’09 (West Indies), Alex Sklyar ’10 (Japan), Tara Tendler ’09 (Washington, D.C.), Chris Thompson ’10 (Cairo), and Andrew Wickerham ’10 (Manchester, U.K.) will be writing about their experiences and studies as well.
I will keep in contact with many other students off-campus and share what they have to say about adapting to different cultures, taking new courses, trying to master foreign languages, and travelling all over the world. I’ll be using my Flip camera to post video clips to the blog, and I hope to create some shows that will appear on the university’s channel on www.mogulus.com.
As sad as I am that I won’t be on campus to welcome the Class of 2012, go through Pan-Hellenic rush with my sorority and see the campus turn white during the first snowfall (OK, maybe I’m exaggerating a bit there), I am so excited to step out of my comfort zone.
Be sure to check out the study abroad blog as we document what happens when 200 students leave Oak Drive and go global.