The students of KSC are already making their next educational moves for the upcoming spring semester.
After all of the COVID-19 restrictions and rescheduling, the Global Education Office (GEO), partnered with travel-bug students, are preparing for the 2022 Study Away programs to commence.
The Global Education Office has many functions on campus. They work with incoming international and exchange students looking to study at Keene State College and provide a hands-on support team for traveling students. However, the most common aspect of the GEO is their Study Away Programs. Students can participate in global academic experiences across the U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia and Latin America. Students are known to plan their endeavors years in advance, but the application process is only available for 1-2 months at a time.
Skye Stephenson, the Director of the Global Education Office, said her and her department are very hands-on with its student’s planning process, being very prepared to answer questions and guide aspiring travelers in the right direction. “We try to be pretty hands- on and supportive of students as much as possible… We meet individually with every student who’s applied to make sure they understand the program that’s the best fit, know the cost, and try to be really transparent with that.” The GEO then explained how to get through all the nitty- gritty details of the program including orientations, travel plans, returning to KSC course registration and, if necessary, student VISAs. Even with COVID-19 uncertainty, the GEO has been doing everything they can to get these students traveling again.
Students who are preparing to head out for their 2022 semester had nothing but encouraging words about their Study Away program and Global Education Office. KSC junior Allison Newey is a Holocaust and Genocide studies and political science major gearing up for her spring semester to be in Krakow, Poland. Classes on European politics and a locationally involved education around the Holocaust was a huge motivator for Newey. “As a political science major… that’s what I want to go into with my major, global politics. I’d be able to study both, the holocaust and political science there.” The Global Education Office lived up to their hands-on approach, with Newey saying “I took more initiative [with my planning], but [the staff] has been super helpful and super responsive.”
Another student preparing for their Study Away program is junior Sophia Grill. She is a history, political science and Holocaust and Genocide studies triple major with a minor in anthropology. Grill said she tackled most of her course load while at KSC and left her history courses for her Study Away plans to give her more travel options. She will be traveling to the University of Dundee in Scotland for the Spring 2022 semester. Her program will be five months of dorm life on the university campus. She will be living in an international student dorm hall that she finds as a comforting aspect to traveling. “Dundee has a lot of international students… It’s going to be a learning and growing experience. I would be excited no matter what, but I think it’s cool I’m gonna be in a situation with a lot of people that are going through the same thing as me.” Grill has been meeting with Skye Stephenson since her first year at KSC because she was very determined to study abroad. “The [Study Away] Program is a great program and I think there’s something for everyone”
