The places you’ll go: Students prepare to study abroad

Annual study abroad fair encourages students to experience life and academics overseas

Photo/Julian Cardillo

Who said the Brandeis experience is limited to just Waltham? For the students who study abroad each year, the world is their campus.

The Office of Study Abroad recently hosted the “Go Away! Study Abroad Fair,” its annual information fair to give students an opportunity to meet representatives from various study abroad programs and ask them questions about foreign culture, academics and opportunities.

Brandeis currently offers more than 350 study abroad programs in 64 different countries. On average, 40 percent of the junior class will study abroad. Whether opting to go in the fall, spring or summer, each student has the chance to learn, work, and grow while living in the center of rich history and culture.

It’s prospects like these that excite Joel Burt-Miller ‘16, who is preparing to study in Durban, South Africa next spring through the School for International Training (SIT). Burt-Miller will participate in SIT’s Community Health and Social Policy program, where he will work in rural areas to learn more about South Africa’s health care system.

“I’m hoping to get immersed in a new culture, learn a lot and be uncomfortable in an environment,” said Burt-Miller, who will be living with a South African host family. “When you’re uncomfortable you grow a lot. It should be a great experience.”

Students also were able to speak with study abroad ambassadors—current students who have recently returned from their time overseas—to gain firsthand knowledge about being abroad and the perspective of a peer.

“Studying abroad was something I always wanted to do when I got to Brandeis,” said Brandon Gale ’15, a study abroad ambassador who participated in The Brandeis in the Hague Program last spring and worked for the International Center for Counter-Terrorism. “It opened my eyes to the real world application of the concepts I learned at Brandeis and opened me up to new perspectives of people in different countries. I had the most enjoyable experience possible.”

More information about Study Abroad options at Brandeis University can be found online.