Under a 40-by-60 foot tent lined with flags on the Student Center lawn, students shared stories and memories from their experiences all over the world.
The fall Study Away Fair was held Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 18, sponsored by the Global Education Office [GEO] with help from study abroad program representatives and student volunteers who have studied away through Keene State College.
The fair gave the GEO staff members a chance to get out of their offices on the third floor of the Elliot Center to a spot that was hard to miss.
Under the tent were 17 tables, each representing different opportunities for studying domestically and abroad offered through KSC.
Timothy Francis, senior study away advisor at GEO, said, “The purpose is to promote the study away options that students should take advantage of.”
Francis said that students who have gone on these respective study away programs can share their own experiences as a way to promote it to interested students. The fair also served as a way to heighten awareness about studying abroad to faculty and staff so they can then encourage their students or entire classes.
Center for International Studies Abroad [CISAbroad] is one of the few study abroad program coordinators that KSC has a relationship with.
Heidi Bohn, a CIS Abroad assistant director of University Relations and Marketing, has gone to many study away fairs and said the volume of people who showed up for the fair is very good for a school the size of KSC.
Bohn said, “It’s unique that Keene brings in students to talk about experiences to other students rather than the GEO or representatives.”
Hannah Rettig / Equinox Staff
Courtney Duff, a two-time study away senior at KSC, said the fair gives students the opportunity to hear about places that people actually have gone, instead of just seeing a list of places on a piece paper.
Duff said she didn’t think it was possible to study away with her science major, but now she has studied away for two semesters and is going to graduate on time.
Duff went to Ireland for a semester her junior year and said when she wasn’t quite ready to come back to Keene for the spring semester, she enrolled in a semester in Alaska through the National Student Exchange [NSE] program.
“Even if you’re in the U.S., it can seem like an entirely new place,” Duff said.
The GEO also works with students who think they can’t study away due to their major or financial restrictions.
They help students find programs that work for them, such as a summer or faculty-led programs, according to Steve Spiegel, associate director of GEO.
Spiegel said the 55 volunteers at the fair help make everyone aware of all the options, but also aware that not all options are abroad or a financial burden.
Including sending students to other states, as well as Canada, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands through NSE, KSC has approved study away programs in 20 different countries.
The GEO has also recently added new opportunities to study away, including their Washington D.C. internship program and a program in Dundee, Scotland.
A KSC sophomore Jurien Garrison said he is interested in studying away during his time at KSC.
Garrison mentioned his sister studied abroad in Italy and visiting her made him more aware of the world.
“It exposed me to a lot of new things and made me realize I had very ‘Americanized’ opinions, and I want to get rid of that,” Garrison said.
Garrison said he is most excited to meet people all over the world, see new things and learn and see the history around the world.
He also said he has to make sure he keeps his GPA up so that he can get the opportunity to study away, but that is his only concern.
Spiegel said there are about 50 to 70 students who study away each semester from KSC and 12 domestic and international students that are currently attending KSC from the NSE program, including Japan, Ireland, France, England and Chile.
Spiegel offered advice to students thinking about studying away.
“Talk to all 55 volunteers and ask them what they think; I bet no one says they regret it. In fact, I bet they’ll say they wish they went longer or want to go back,” Spiegel said. Spiegel continued, “Keene is a great place, but there is so much to see out there.”
Taylor Thomas can be contacted at tthomas@keene-equinox.com
