As my first real blog post discussing my passion for learning about the world around us, I wanted to write about the opportunities available to Penn State students to try and learn new things about our global community. These activities can be something as simple as eating a new food in the dining hall to taking a foreign language class. Within these extremes of attempting something new are daily activities sponsored by the Penn State community that are present in our dining halls, news bulletins, mass emails, and the millions of posters hanging around campus. I urge you to try something new this week that you may see everyday and it piques your interest. You’ll never know if you like something until you try it!
Penn State’s learning opportunities are globally available when one thinks about it; the most apparent experiences are Study Abroad or studying foreign languages. Through the School of Global Studies, Penn State offers over 20 different languages to learn, plus other opportunities to network with speakers of lesser known languages. At the same time, the school helps to connect students with Study Abroad programs that best fit their intended major. Without going into specific details of every single program offered here, most of the courses are centered around learning opportunities across the world. You would travel to the foreign lands and spend time immersed in the culture to the point where you could easily pick up a second language or other cultural aspect quite quickly. Whether or not you are taking classes while visiting the country, learning about the daily mechanics of a country unveil subtle opportunities to learn about the culture you are surrounded in.
This past week, I had the opportunity to attend the Study Abroad involvement fair in Alumni Hall. The room was filled with rows and rows of tables representing different associations and programs that offer a wide array of possibilities for every type of student. As I left with a stack of brochures and free stickers, I realized what great opportunity to travel and learn of new cultures lay ahead of me. Although Study Abroad may not your most orthodox way of learning, experience and hands-on activities can be helpful for some students of life. Personally, I need to work through problems on my own terms and through my own thought processes to fully comprehend an issue. However, through the guidance and help of Penn State faculty make it easy to find exactly what you can handle that would best suit your learning style.
As I move on through college, I hope to gain real world experience through internships and trips to foreign countries. For me, this is the best way to begin to unlock the mysteries of the world that pervades us. As for what I can do now, I attempt to read and learn about the cultures that intrigue me most, one day hoping to experience them in person. Wanderlust will have to do for now.
I wanted to go to the Study Abroad Fair this week but unfortunately I had class. My major is really small but I hope I’ll be able to travel and experience something similar to it.
Where would you study abroad if you had the chance?
Penn state definitely offers so many study abroad experiences. Actually, yesterday in my bio class, we had a guest speaker about traveling to Africa over the summer. Experiencing the world in a different sense is very interesting to me, and I definitely would like to study abroad eventually.
I too am interested in the study abroad program. I have taken Spanish for the past 5 years, and have gotten somewhat good at it. It’s weird I can write flowing sentences, but when it comes to speaking, I’m at a loss. I thought I might check out studying abroad somewhere in Spain, so if you have info, let me know!