Saying Goodbye to Maine and a Little About Studying Abroad
Hey guys!
So, this week has been boring (like I said it would be), but really stressful too! I had so many tests, one I got an A on, another not so much...but whatever! You just have to try hard and I did. What else? Oh, I was supposed to do serious swimming one night with Aubrey, but ended up just sitting in the hot tub and sauna (so much easier and relaxing!) then, I worked like almost every day at the phone-a-thon and it as usual was super fun! One night 4 of us earned over 2,500 in less than an hour!! woot woot!
Actually, I am supposed to be working now... lol. But, instead I am just posting…
What I am supposed to be doing is creating this brochure for The Study Abroad Office, for their new global citizenship program. See, you need to get certain citizenship hours (like volunteer hours) before you graduate, but now they are starting up this new program where you can get those hours during a week in the summer in Mexico. And you learn Spanish and about the culture and have home stays and it is just a really awesome program that gets you those needed credits. And I guess since I don’t have much to talk about right now, I could talk more about studying abroad.
Firstly, I work here, because studying abroad is something you NEED to do before you graduate. I know that and I try to convey that to everyone else. I am a pretty big advocate for the department. Plus, Trisha rocks and our office is pretty big with so many opportunities and is really just growing. Studying abroad though is just such an amazing experience and no matter how many people tell you that, you will not understand how true that is until you experience it yourself. I studied in The Slovak Republic last year as a senior in high school and it really was the best year of my life. I now have friends from Mexico, Germany, Brazil, Taiwan, Canada, Czech Republic, Slovakia and all throughout the U.S. I also traveled to over ten countries and saw a good chunk of Europe. I do not have a ton of pictures on this computer, but here are a few: (of my year abroad)
This is our whole exchange group of some sixty students who were placed throughout Slovakia and the Czech Republic. We represent over six countries!!
This is two of my best exchange friends Maike, from Germany and Molly, from Taiwan (and me in glasses, lol) This picture was actually in The Garden of Versailles!
This is Alayna (from Alberta) and Kique (from Mexico) and I in the center of NItra (my town in Slovakia) and they were 2 of 4 other exchanges placed with me in that town. You can kind of see Nitra castle in the background.
This a HUGE dinner that the NItra exchangees cooked (everyone made something from their own country) and this is all the Nitra exchanges (plus some) eating it at a host-family's house. It was in the spring and so hot and nice!
This is my mom, my best friend and my Aunt and I and my best friend's mom at the airport. Another good part of studying abroad is coming home. =)
Lastly, here is a video that Kique made of one of our excursions to Prague (capital of CZ) I don't know, it is pretty cool, so you might find it interesting or you might not, whatev! =)
So, yea and there is a lot of pictures of UNE students and information about our UNE programs and future and past falculty led trips (there might be one to China next year) at our website:
http://www.une.edu/cas/abroad/, please check it out!! It is so worth it! And please next year make an appointment with Trisha! She is so aweome and just really a nice person and she really works to make every exchange program awseome and there are scholarships and almost anyone who wants to go, CAN go if they apply.
And yeah... that is my whole shpeel... it is just really important to me, because I know how much it really impacted my life and I really wish that upon everyone else!! So, you should definitly check it out now and then talk to Trisha when you get here next fall!
Okay, well now I must get back to work... haha. Then off to try and zip up my suitcase (oh my) and off to Aubrey's till Sunday and then a week in ARIZONA for SPRING BREAK!!! AHHH... we will be painting and drywalling and we are for sure going to the Grand Canyon and the Pheonix Symphony, but other than that its a mystery! woohoo! I'll tell you about it all when I get back!
Have a nice break (if you are on break) and have a nice average week (for those who aren't)
-Marilyn
