Augustana’s culturally rich community strongly emphasizes diversity and inclusion. The college expends plenty of resources to ensure students bond over their differences, including a notably popular study abroad program that a staggering 22% of the students utilize.
Augustana’s study abroad department offers four different programs, including three-week long J-term programs, entire semesters abroad, summer programs and internships. Students who explore summer programs through Augustana or different avenues experience life-changing joys.
Senior Kyla Painter, a biology and public health major on the pre-veterinary medicine track, studied abroad in Central America.
Painter participated in a program mainly designed for veterinary students. She not only aided domestic pets but also rescued animals. During her travels to Panama and later to Costa Rica, she aided many sloths in their recovery. She said the Costa Rican perspective was more empathetic towards wild animals compared to the US, which moved her a lot.
“I experienced things that I would not have experienced here, not just the animals but also the culture [and] the people,” Painter said. “I’ve met some of the best people I’ve ever met. I would fly back to Panama and go work with those veterinarians again.”
Senior Zach Blair, a triple major in English, creative writing and Scandinavian studies, went to Sweden for nine weeks for a language program.
“My experience is something I’ll never forget and a choice I’ll never regret making,” Blair said.
Blair went on a program known as Uppsala Internation, offered by Uppsala University, one of the top public universities in Sweden. The program is offered to international students worldwide, mainly European and American students. It lasts about nine weeks and combines Swedish-language exclusive classes with classes offered in both English and Swedish.
“We went to Stockholm because it was only 30 minutes away, so we’d either take a bus or a train,” said Zack. “I’d recognize cars weren’t a big part of Swedish culture, like in America. If I wanted to get around or go to a different place, I took either the train or the bus. This is very different for me.”
Junior Georgi Feigley, a vocal performance and French major, traveled to Novafeltria in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy to perform in the opera “Suor Angelica.”
“My initial excitement came from the beautiful countryside of the Apennine mountains in eastern Italy,” Feigley said. “The rolling hills were stunning and it was sunny almost every day.”
She said one of the biggest cultural differences for her was when she was living in a rural area near Florence, where she only got to speak in her native tongue with a handful of people. She said the area she stayed in was “safe, and people were super kind.”
If you are interested in pursuing a study abroad program, you can start with Augustana’s study abroad website. Visit them at their official site: https://www.augustana.edu/academics/core/study-abroad.
