Nearly 500 students participate in summer programs overseas

Senior Michael Richardson studied abroad last summer for six weeks in Dublin, Ireland, and he doesn’t regret the decision. \n“(Studying abroad) is an opportunity to get new perspectives and attitudes,” Richardson said. “They definitely aren’t the same (as IU).” \nAccording to IU’s Overseas Study Web site, http://www.indiana.edu/~overseas, during the 2004-2005 school year, 2,082 students from eight IU campuses enrolled in year-long, semester-long and summer study abroad programs. \nKendra Nelson, assistant director at the office of overseas, explained that there are about 500 students who study abroad in the summer. The most popular places to go abroad in the summer are England, Ireland, Wales, Spain and Italy. \nSenior Katie Mis, another student who went abroad to Dublin, said that she initially decided to go because she has family there whom she never met. \nAside from meeting her family, Mis explained that going to Dublin was one of the greatest experiences she’s had. \n“On the weekends, myself and others from my program would go to different parts of Ireland and Scotland,” Mis said. “That was awesome exploring the entire country.” \nMis and Richardson both agreed that visiting Northern Ireland was one of the best educational experiences they’ve ever had. Richardson explained that he learned about the problems that Northern Ireland had, and he actually witnessed them first hand when he went. \nNelson explained that there are different requirements for different programs that IU offers. She also explained that prices for summer programs vary between how many credits you’re taking and where you’re going. \n“That’s the thing for summer programs even though it would cost less to do a summer program,” Nelson said. “When you look at time spent and number of credits, it’s usually more cost-effective to do a longer program.” \nNelson explained that when students come in to discuss studying abroad, they want to push students to spend as much time as possible in another country. \n“We always encourage students,” Nelson said. “If they’re thinking about a summer, they should think about a semester. If they’re thinking about a semester, they should think about a year.” \nRichardson explained that studying abroad is an incredible experience because not everyone in Europe has the same views and you get a broader perspective on things. \n“(Ireland) is relaxed socially,” Richardson said. “They didn’t worry about trivial matters that IU stresses over.”