For many college students, studying away becomes the moment when learning moves beyond the classroom and into the real world. Like most colleges, students at Keene State are able to explore new cultures and environments while gaining a different perspective on learning in an immersive way.
Coordinator of Global Education Lisa Johnson explained what the study away program is at KSC.
“Students can study away during their time here at Keene State,” Johnson said. ”When they go, there’s lots of flexibility within the major to go either sophomore or junior year. Students need to have a 2.5 GPA and be in good standings of the college.”
Johnson expanded on the aspects of flexibility when studying away that can vary depending on a student’s academic program.
“A lot of it depends on their major; there are some majors like nursing and elementary education where the faculty in those departments have said we want our students to study away,” she said. “Both nursing and education majors have to do either clinical study or student teaching.”
Junior Kaleigh Slozak said she studied abroad in Italy during the 2025 spring semester, and described her decision to go to Italy and the process of making that choice.
“Whenever studying abroad was mentioned, my parents have always said ‘That is an opportunity I wish I never missed out on,’ which made me realize it truly is an opportunity that I should take advantage of,” said Slozak. ”With that mindset, I knew I had to sign up for every opportunity I could and get out there.”
“I was struggling between Australia and Florence, Italy for a long time,” she continued. “I knew I wanted to go somewhere that I have not been to. My final decision actually came about because of the food in Italy and the spiders in Australia. There was a lot of back and forth in my mind, but the food won me over. I’m so glad I went and tried it.”
Slozak said that after arriving in Italy, her decision quickly proved to be the right one.
“The most surprising thing to me while studying abroad was how cheap things are in other places in the world. Groceries are super duper cheap in Italy and they taste so much better as well. Good food is a really big part of their everyday lives and it is clear from all of the farmstands and markets on the streets,” Slozak said.
Johnson explained the benefits of studying away.
“There’s quite a bit of research towards the benefits of studying away,” she said. “Students will come back and they will report that they have so much self-competence. It can help the student confirm what they thought they wanted to do or nope, I’m changing directions to go this way.”
Johnson said the personal and academic benefits often come from the real-world skills students develop while living abroad.
“Its kind of like doing an internship, too. You gain some of those soft skills like intercultural competence, intercultural communication skills and interactions, and you learn how to act with people who are very different from you– people who view the world differently from you. It’s a really interesting opportunity because your commonality is what you’re studying,” Johnson said.
Because of the personal and professional skills students gain while abroad, Slozak strongly encouraged others to take the opportunity to study away.
“The biggest piece of advice that I would give to someone thinking about studying abroad is to just do it,” she said. “Honestly, it changes everything. It made me such a happy person and more independent than I was when I left. It is such a great experience and as scary as it might seem, it really is one of the best things that you can do. From meeting new people to visiting new places, I 100% recommend it all.”
Sophia Merenda can be contacted at
