Feature
Going Places Blog
From internships in China to language programs in Costa Rica, about 550 USF students traveled to nearly 30 countries this summer to take part in an international education experience. Education Abroad, USF's office for international study, awarded scholarships to 27 of those students to help make their dreams of studying abroad a reality.
Meet our international scholars who blogged about their experiences.
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Rose Bishop
Senior — International Affairs, Russian
Florence, ItalyThis past weekend we went to Venice! What can I even say about Venice? It's absolutely gorgeous, for one thing. I have always loved canal cities — Saint Petersburg, Russia (known, coincidentally, as the "Venice of the North") and Amsterdam, The Netherlands are two of my favorite cities in the world.
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Farah Britto
Senior — Mass Communications & Anthropology
Cape Coast, GhanaThe Ghanians seem to know so much about American news and history, as well as that of other countries. I feel like their school system is so much more focused in international affairs than the American counterpart, which might surprise some Americans. It seems that we have some catching up to do too.
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Thu Can
Senior — English and Biomedical Sciences
San Jose, Costa RicaAt times it seems as though accomplishments are only met if one is performing multiple tasks at a very rapid rate. Admiring nature and people is often regarded as time consuming. However, the ticos in Costa Rica live based on the concept of "pura vida," the pure life.
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Ariel Chantachote
Junior — International Studies
Qingdao, ChinaIn America we have chocolate, vanilla, or other flavors for cakes, but in China the actual flavor of all cakes are the same, but the outside flavoring is different. They usually have fruit on their cakes, and the flavoring is also fruit. Instead of using icing, they also use whipped cream. We had an orange flavored cake with pineapple, apple, kiwi, and more fruits on top as well as chocolate on the side.
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Jessica Church
Junior — International Studies
Qingdao, ChinaWe split up into groups and our Chinese roommates took us to some elementary schools to sit in on one of their classes...This one little girl kept staring at me. At the end of the class she gave me her phone number and her QQ and whispered in my ear for me to call her sometime.
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Jessica Collard
Graduate student — Women's and Gender Studies
Florence, ItalyI love having the ability to travel at the drop of a hat, it is relatively inexpensive here. However, there is so much to do and see in Florence that I am having a hard time understanding why I would ever want to go anywhere else.
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Courtney Coton
Senior — Marketing
Brussels, Belgium; Normandy, France; Paris, France; Amsterdam, Holland; Barcelona, SpainNot much has changed over the past couple hundred years, with the exception of technology. But even through all of the technological advances, the most popular form of transportation is still by bicycle. The city is covered with millions of bicycles, which is how the locals get around.
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Tina Danh
Junior — Biology
Beijing and Qingdao, ChinaLike every week, we always have some kind of excursions to go on and this week, we went to a small Beijing Opera Theatre in downtown Qingdao...Afterwards, some students were able to try out the different techniques that they used for performing. I and some other lucky classmates got our face painted with the makeup that they use for performances! We even wore the make-up outside the theatre and we definitely got stared at a lot!
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Andres Delgado
Graduate student — Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies
Buenos Aires, ArgentinaThe visit to Abuelas de la Plaza de Mayo, which is a human rights organization that is trying to find the children of the disappeared during the last military dictatorship, was perhaps the most emotional moment of our week, as one of the grandmothers that are part of the group, told us her personal story and how she managed to find her granddaughter after 22 years looking for her.
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Aaron Dixon
Senior — International Business: MIS
Salamanca, SpainI am learning tons of language; last night I had my first ever dream in which I knowledgeably communicated in Spanish. I told my professor and she congratulated me stating that the dream was an subconscious attempt of my mind processing language. How cool is that?!
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Jessica Glosson
Sophomore — Environmental Policy
Paris, FranceMore enchanting than any Walt Disney fairytale, the Eiffel Tower stands glittering and beautiful for all admist the dark, chilly weather and once it gets dark here around 10 pm, the monument literally sparkles in a dazzling display of light.
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Danielle Grams
Junior — Microbiology and Research
Monteverde, Costa RicaMy home stay family's cow had her baby (unfortunately I missed it because of the health fair preparation)! It was a boy and my family let me name it Rocky after USF's mascot!
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Marissa Hartley
Junior — Psychology and Religious Studies
Bangalaur, IndiaWhen we finally arrived at the monastery they led us through this exquisite gate that was decorated from top to bottom in paintings and figures...I had never seen such beautiful craftsmanship. There was simply no corner of each temple that wasn't used to tell some kind of story.
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Ross O'Bryan
Junior — International Business & Economics
Madrid, SpainI went to Pamplona for the running with the bulls!! This was one of the most fun times I have ever had!! I have never seen so many people in one spot before all celebrating the same occasion.
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Patricia Sennhauser
Senior — International Business
Buenos Aires, ArgentinaToday is the fourth of July and more than ever, I really appreciate what that signifies since the Argentinian people are still fighting for rights that we take for granted every day. Part of the program allows us to attend trials against people who are accused of violating basic human rights and it's a really unique experience that's truly eye opening.
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Christopher Smith
Senior — French
Québec City, CanadaThe Summer Festival is a huge music festival that attracts major acts from around the world to perform for a giant mass of people at a place called the Plains of Abraham. Not sure how much more epic it could be.
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Megan Voeller
Graduate student — Art History
Paris, France; Venice, ItalyOn the first day, we began by studying the city's Roman past. The Panthéon, though constructed in the 18th century, evokes that past — specifically, by resembling the Pantheon of Rome. Dedicated to the city's patron saint, St. Geneviève, the building has served as a burial site for famous French men (and, on two occasions, women) of letters, science and politics including Émile Zola and Marie Curie.
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Melissa Whitney
Graduate student — Public Health
Monteverde, Costa RicaI got to use a machete and chop down sugar cane, swim in the ocean, hike to a waterfall, and climb inside a fig tree! Also, I accompanied my homestay family to the local Farmer's Market. My homestay father had a booth selling organic fruits and vegetables.