Tag Archives: Study Abroad

Admitted Students Day

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Today was the first of two days for admitted students on campus, and I spent some time talking to prospective students about both our study abroad programs and the English department. After talking to so many people, I found myself repeating a few nuggets of knowledge to pretty much everyone, which I would like to share here:

There seems to be this misconception that studying abroad will make you fall behind, and that’s just not true. I was just a minor in Spanish before I left for Costa Rica, but I picked up so much Spanish credit while I was abroad that I only needed to take a few classes here at McDaniel to finish up the major upon my return. The key is planning with your adviser and the International Programs Office to make sure that your credits will transfer.

Don’t put yourself in a box. We really love hearing students say that they are undecided at Admitted Students Day  because they will most likely explore various fields of study and student organizations before organically coming upon the best fit. I talked to students who did not feel that they could study abroad or take writing classes because of the major they had chosen, but I really encourage exploring all options for study, especially when we have to fulfill the McDaniel Plan anyway!

You can combine areas of study to fit your needs. I met some students who had interests that spanned across a couple of our majors, such as English, Communications, and Cinema. It can feel daunting when you are looking at the information for all of our different majors and minors, but it is pretty easy to study all the things you love by doing dual majors or taking on a minor. Be sure to talk to professors in all the departments you are interested in because they have probably had students with the same skill sets and will know from experience how to accommodate your interests.

Happy Admitted Students Day! We will be holding another one in one week on Sunday, April 14.

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A spring cleaning long in the making

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I have never necessarily been inclined toward neatness. In high school, my friends joked that I lived like a nomad, with enough stuff to live on for at least a week strewn haphazardly in the back of my car. My room wasn’t any better; a path leading to the bed was sometimes the only section of carpet that was visible.

When I was a freshman in college, my organizational skills only slumped. People would walk into my room and not be able to maintain eye contact due to the explosion of things on my floor. I lost my keys so often in the mountain of my things that my roommate took it upon herself to hang a hook by our door so that I would stop panicking each time I had to leave the room. I was convinced that I was busy and had no time to organize my stuff, but I came to dislike spending time in my room because it was so cluttered.

During my sophomore year, I moved into an apartment and wasn’t much better. While I made sure to keep communal spaces clean, I could barely negotiate my side of the room. Still, keeping my personal space remained pretty unimportant in comparison to my schoolwork and social life.

My major turning point came when I studied abroad in Costa Rica and lived with a host family. My Mamá Tica was obsessed with cleanliness and I only had a small amount of my things to keep organized. I took time each day to organize my closet and drawers, gaining a new found satisfaction in my spotless floor and not having to frantically dig around every time I needed my sunglasses or a particular pair of shoes.

Now, I live in the Spanish house on campus, and part of our grade involves cleaning the communal spaces of the house. We operate on a weekly rotating schedule of vacuuming, taking out the trash, and cleaning the kitchen. Compulsory cleaning plus a particularly orderly roommate have driven me to keep my room organized this year, and tonight I did a particularly hefty spring cleaning. I went through all of my school and personal items and made a collection of things to take home tomorrow when I visit my family for Easter tomorrow.

Now, looking at my vacuumed and dusted room, I feel incredibly satisfied. It may have taken 21 years, but I finally realized how much more peaceful I feel when my things are orderly rather than scattered on the floor. Cleaning all the time is still not my inclination, but it has become more of a habit over these past few years. The best development: I love spending time in my room.

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Learning about Glasgow

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You can find a lot of study abroad opportunities at McDaniel, and this evening, I had the chance to find out more about one of them.

The Honors Program here at McDaniel is in a partnership with the University of Glasgow in Scotland that allows McDaniel honors students to be automatically accepted to study abroad there.

The idea of studying abroad in Glasgow through this partnership has interested me since I was a prospective student. I’ve always wanted to study abroad somewhere, and as an English major, it’s a pretty good idea for me to go study somewhere in the UK. I had actually intended on going to Glasgow this semester, but as the deadline to apply for it got closer, the timing for me to go there just didn’t seem right. I was living with really wonderful people, I had an increased sense of belonging here at McDaniel, and my family had gotten a new puppy in August.

However, I’m hoping that I’ll be able to pry myself away from campus next spring to experience the awesomeness that a semester in Glasgow has to offer, and I hoped that attending the info session tonight would help me take that first step.

International students at the University of Glasgow can take whatever classes they want as long as they meet the requirements for those classes. This is in contrast to degree-seeking students of the University, who are pretty much confined to classes within their chosen majors. Honors students who study at Glasgow through the Principia Consortium (the partnership with the University that McDaniel is a part of) are required to take a course called The Scottish Enlightenment, which is a history course that takes a look at a variety of disciplines. In addition to this course, honors students who study there will take two or perhaps three more courses. One of the most popular options for students studying abroad at Glasgow is a bagpiping course–that’s right, a course in which you can learn to play the bagpipes!

Tonight I learned a few new things about studying abroad at Glasgow that I hadn’t known before. I didn’t realize that the University has an organization for international students that plans trips both in Scotland and throughout Europe. This excites me, since it would take a lot of the hassle out of planning trips, and it would probably help me find the resources to get to Germany during what would be my spring break. (I went to Germany as an exchange student before my senior year of high school, and I loved it! It’s beautiful and I want to go back!)

I also learned a bit more about the housing options in Glasgow. Most of the rooms at the University are singles located in halls or apartments. (This makes me very happy!!!) The Glasgow representative who came to talk to our group of honors students recommended that we choose to room in singles, since this allows students studying abroad to meet more people.

I was glad to have attended tonight’s info session. It was fun and informative, and there was also pizza. A McDaniel student who went to Glasgow last semester even came to talk to us about her experiences.

The processes involved in studying abroad can be daunting, but I know without a doubt that the experience of going abroad is rewarding. Hopefully, in the coming weeks, I’ll muster up the courage to restart the process of going to Glasgow.

 

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A Busy Little Week

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Returning to campus from fall break means a return to friends and now-familiar routines. Unfortunately, it also means returning to a fresh batch of homework assignments (and ones put on hold during break). One look at my workload tonight, and you’ll be able to tell two things: that I’m an English major and that I’m a little overwhelmed at the moment. Tomorrow I have my first test of the semester for my grammar class, and I have a paper due in my rhetoric class. (Fortunately, the paper deadline got pushed back by a day, giving me more time to work on it. Unfortunately, that means I’m still working on it.)

Of course, I haven’t let the homework bog me down completely, as I kept busy with plenty of non-homework things yesterday too. After class, I went to West Middle School, a local middle school within walking distance from campus, where I volunteer once a week as an after-school tutor for kids who want or need extra help with their homework. I’ve been involved in this since last fall, and I have not only enjoyed it but I have also learned a lot about myself and working with people who are younger than me.

Later in the evening, I went to Honors Around the World, an event sponsored by the Honors Club at which students of the Honors Program talked about their experiences studying abroad. It was great to hear about some of my friends’ and peers’ travels to Costa Rica, Budapest, Spain, Ghana, and other places. I was especially glad to hear Mara talk about her experience in Glasgow, Scotland, since I would like to study abroad there in 2014. McDaniel’s Honors Program is part of a special partnership with the University of Glasgow that lets honors students from select U.S. institutions study at Glasgow. I think it’s a pretty awesome opportunity, and I can’t wait to experience it myself next spring!

And before I hit the books last night, I helped the Free Press, our student newspaper, distribute copies of our latest print issue in my residence hall. Our print issues have been looking fantastic this year, and I highly recommend that you track a copy down if you visit campus. Whether you’re interested in journalism or not, looking at colleges’ student newspapers is a great way to learn more about the campus and find out what students care about.

The October issue of the McDaniel Free Press, featuring McDaniel ROTC cadets

Despite being only three days long, this week has been one of my busiest little weeks in recent memory. (The fact that we don’t get a lot of short weeks on campus can also account for that.) I’m definitely looking forward to this week coming to a close! After my grammar test, I’m heading home again to take care of things I didn’t get to over fall break and to spend more time with my family. (Fall break will never be long enough for me!)

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