The COVID-19 pandemic has been harsh to everyone in an assortment of different ways. Gradually, we have seen things starting to come back into place, and resemble some sort of normalcy. We over in the Fries Center for Global Studies are so happy that studying abroad can be a part of that normalcy.

During our current Fall semester, and with the pandemic, thirty students traveled out of campus and to their varying different programs. Now that we are back in a more physical setting, we have been working hard to get as many students abroad as we can. We’ve had handfuls of First Step meetings, dozens of individual appointments, and great turnouts at our events and information sessions. We have currently approved over one-hundred and forty student applications; forms are coming in, visas are being completed, and there is only so much time before they are in Madrid, Copenhagen, Paris, England, and the handful of other countries with programs that we offer.

After over a year where many of us were stuck in our homes, it is such a good feeling to be able to send these students abroad as safely as we can. They will get the unique opportunity to engage with other cultures and diversely enriching environments that they may not experience here. We want to send as many students abroad as we can, and we hope to only increase these numbers as our semesters continue.