The College of International Programs at California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB) held an Education Abroad Fair on Feb. 19 to encourage students to study abroad during their college careers. Many advisors from the International Department and students who have participated in studying abroad attended the event to answer any questions from students who are interested in traveling for school.
To travel abroad, students must fill out an application months before they take their international journey. The process may seem intimidating, but CSU international advisor, Kristy Sauerbry, reminded students of the international department’s slogan, “don’t fear the year,” emphasizing that although studying abroad takes students away from home for a long period of time, it turns out to be a wonderful experience for most students.
“To travel abroad for a full year, students must complete their application process a year in advance,” Sauerbry said. “But there are shorter summer and winter programs that you can sign up for shortly before your trip. The semester and year-long programs are linked with CSUMB’s tuition rates and have the potential to be covered by financial aid.”
She also said, “depending on where you want to travel, some international programs are harder to get accepted into. The countries that are most popularized by students are in the U.K., France, and Japan, so you’ve got to try your hardest on your application if you’d like to study there.”
Besides those popular locations, there are dozens more countries to travel to with the CSU international programs. Brochures were presented to students at the fair for studying abroad in Spain, Germany, Chile, Mexico, Australia and more. “We even have a private CSU department in Florence, Italy, where our faculty and staff control everything and can take in lots of American students,” Sauerbry said.
CSUMB student, Alexandria Adamns, traveled abroad in Germany last semester, and said her “favorite thing about Germany that was different from America was the beer and pretzels!” Adamns also said her trip was “taken care of by financial aid” and she “only had to worry about feeding [herself].”
There were also students from out of the country who spoke of their experiences while studying here in the US. Molly Harrison from the UK said, “The workload here is different because at my home university we do most of our assignments on our own, at home. It’s a very different experience here, but I love it and love being here by the beach.”
Lucy Smith is also from the UK and she told students at the fair to study abroad and “try to get a different experience because you can!”
For more information regarding international programs and applications, visit csumb.edu/educationabroad.