Tuesday, May 10, 2011

35 Days and Counting.

This summer I will be traveling around the Mediterranean while earning nine college credits through the study abroad program known as Semester at Sea. Fellow Blugold, Karen Hansen, will be joining me on the ship as we discover Europe and North Africa.  The voyage starts from Nassau, Bahamas and travels to Spain, Italy, Greece, Croatia, Bulgaria, Turkey, and Morocco, ending in Boston, MA.

For those of you who have not heard about Semester at Sea take a look at their website: semesteratsea.org
they have multiple programs for everyone including: semester, summer, short-term, and enrichment voyages providing a study abroad trip for everyone



The ship is described as a "floating campus" and has all the modern amenities of an actual college campus, including: a computer lab, library, classrooms, student lounges, campus store, and two cafeterias. Also, like a regular campus there are student groups, socials, study days and sports facilities. 

Aboard the ship I will be taking three classes. The first class, Global Studies, is taken by all students on the ship (around 700) and focuses on art, history, politics, and social aspects of every country I'm visiting. Second, I will be fulfilling a humanities GE through Italy in the Age of the Renaissance and lastly I will be taking Negotiating for Value, which fulfills a requirement for my international business minor. An added requirement for all classes are FDPs (Field-Directed Practica) also known as field trips. Each professor chooses trips throughout the voyage and makes them mandatory for their students to learn concepts first hand. Examples of FDPs are: snorkeling for Biology, tour of a wine production facility for Business, and orphanage visits for Psychology classes.

Overall I am so fortunate to be able to have this experience and can't wait for finals to be over so I can start making final preparations.

Make sure to check back the beginning of June when I will be feverishly packing and planning!


"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -Mark Twain