by Ben B | Apr 16, 2022 | All Year, Arts & Sciences, Asia, Europe, Honors College, Non-traditional, Semester, UA Non-Affiliate, UA-Affiliate
Experience is a great teacher—and experience studying abroad is no exception to this adage. I have had the blessing of being able to study abroad for three semesters while at UA—in Shanghai, London, and now Rome—thanks to the generosity of UA scholarships, the...
by Ben B | Apr 16, 2022 | Africa, All Year, Arts & Sciences, Europe, Honors College, Semester, Summer, UA Non-Affiliate, UA-Affiliate
Florence, Italy One of the things that is most exciting about studying abroad is, of course, the travel opportunities on weekends and breaks. For me, travel was a highlight of all my study abroad experiences, as I described in my column about airports and locations...
by Ben B | Apr 16, 2022 | Africa, All Year, Arts & Sciences, Asia, Australia/New Zealand, Central America, Europe, Exchange, Faculty-Led, Honors College, Non-traditional, North America, Semester, South America, UA-Affiliate
One of the most under-appreciated benefits of study abroad programs, particularly those based in Europe, are how easy and affordable it is to travel internationally on weekends and breaks. Here I will give a few tips as to how to make the most of this opportunity, a...
by Dawson W | Mar 11, 2022 | Arts & Sciences, Europe, Semester, UA-Affiliate
Hello! I am Dawson. I am from Montgomery, Alabama and I am studying abroad in The Hague, Netherlands (40 minutes south of Amsterdam by train). My program officially starts in February, but I came a few weeks early! My best friend from high school lives in Amsterdam...
by Dawson W | Mar 11, 2022 | Arts & Sciences, Europe, Semester, UA-Affiliate
So, I have been here for about a month and a half, not even half way through my journey, but to be honest I am kind of dreading its conclusion already. I have been having such a fun time in The Hague and I really can not recommend this location enough. It is a big...
by Ashley T | Aug 21, 2019 | Arts & Sciences, Europe, Faculty-Led, Summer, _
I am a huge fan of libraries and books of any sort and got my first library card when I was 3, so needless to say I was very excited when I was told that those of us on the UA at Oxford trip were getting Bodleian reader cards. This meant we could go into the Bodleian...
by Ashley T | Jul 30, 2019 | Arts & Sciences, Europe, Faculty-Led, Summer, _
“Cheers” Cheers is a word you hear a lot in Britain. I’ve heard it used in place of “thank you,” “you’re welcome,” and just a general phrase, but only in certain contexts. I’m not quite sure what exactly it means, but I like it. You will walk a lot. I am...
by Rhonnie | Jun 18, 2019 | Africa, Arts & Sciences, Faculty-Led, Summer
View of Cape Town After being mainly anxious and nervous about going to South Africa, my first thoughts when I arrived at the airport to come home were about my arrival and departure. When I was at the airport to depart for home, everything felt surreal to me because...
by Rhonnie | Jun 6, 2019 | Africa, Arts & Sciences, Faculty-Led, Summer, _
Picture of a morning while on Safari.Pilanesburg, South Africa My first time being on an airplane; my first time traveling outside of the country; my first time studying abroad on a different continent; my first time in Africa, South Africa. My mind is mostly focused...
by Zach S | Feb 19, 2019 | Arts & Sciences, Europe, Semester, UA-Affiliate, _
“This grave contains all that was Mortal of a Young English Poet Who on his Death Bed, in the Bitterness of his Heart at the Malicious Power of his Enemies Desired these Words to be engraven on his Tomb Stone: Here lies One Whose Name was writ in Water. 24 February...
by Michael R | Nov 14, 2018 | Arts & Sciences, Asia, By College, Duration, Exchange, Program Type, Region, Semester, _
Of all the unread books on my shelf back home, none is more intimidating than Murasaki Shikibu’s The Tale of Genji. The translation I own, the 1926 translation by Arthur Waley, lands at over a 1000 pages. (The Tale of Genji taking up a large amount of space on...
by Theresa S | May 29, 2018 | Arts & Sciences, Europe, Faculty-Led, Summer, _
Day 2 in Belgrade is coming to a close, yet I feel like I have been here for much longer than 48 short hours. The extensive travel time has my brain a little out of whack, and I swear I’m a character in some sci-fi movie where time gets warped and the days all start...
by Mason J | Mar 23, 2018 | Arts & Sciences, Europe, Semester, UA-Affiliate
I don’t think there are words to succinctly summarize my past month and a half in Budapest, but here’s my best shot. I’m sitting, laptop out, in a small square in the Palace District of this capital city. Beside me, a cobblestone street winds its way towards the twin...
by Kaitlin W | Feb 13, 2018 | Arts & Sciences, Comm & Info Sciences, Europe, Semester, UA-Affiliate, _
For me, study abroad has been full of a lot of firsts. First time leaving the country; first time out of the state of Alabama for more than ten days, but some of these firsts haven’t been quite as extreme. I spent one of my first weekends in Grenoble, France an...
by Amber C | Jan 13, 2018 | Arts & Sciences, Semester, UA-Affiliate, _
I had no expectations coming into this study abroad program because every time I saw it it seemed unreal or too good to be true. This program takes you to various countries all around the world literally all around the world. My particular trip was the Fall...
by Amber C | Jan 13, 2018 | Arts & Sciences, Semester, UA-Affiliate, _
The last four months I spent my time traveling all parts of the world with Semester at Sea from the Fjords of Norway, the schools in Ghana, and the buddhist temples of Myanmar. For starters I learned that we can learn something from every country or person on the...
by Keturah N | Jul 26, 2017 | Arts & Sciences, Europe, Faculty-Led, Summer, _
Coming back to the USA from being abroad always requires a period of readjustment, and this journey abroad was no different. My first feeling upon landing in Charlotte was that of being completely overwhelmed. American airports are a sensory overload! Everyone was...
by Mackenzie L | Jul 24, 2017 | Arts & Sciences, Education, Europe, Faculty-Led, Human Environmental Sciences, Social Work, Summer, UA-Affiliate, _
Now that I am back home in America, the first thought that came to my mind was how excited I was to see my family and dogs. Other than that, I was mostly happy that, because although the program is over, the friends that I made, I will see again in Alabama at school....
by Keturah N | Jun 28, 2017 | Arts & Sciences, Europe, Faculty-Led, Summer, _
It is my final night in Tours and it has been an emotional ride to say the least. I started the day by going to my last French classes at the Institut de Touraine. All of my work has been turned in and we recieved our final grades for the courses we took. I was...
by Harlyn | Jun 8, 2017 | Education, Europe, Faculty-Led, Summer, _
Before I throw you head first into my fabulously flustered pre-departure antics, I will introduce myself. My name is Harlyn Grey Cowart and I am from a small town in north Alabama called Athens. Athens is a town that you will miss if you blink while driving through...
