When Alexandra Marcello came back to Manchester after a summer studying in Florence it was a little like landing in a foreign country.
"I have been back in America now for almost a month and I still miss my home in Florence," says Marcello, a sophomore business major at UNH Manchester. Marcello spent six weeks this summer studying in Italy as part of the UNH Manchester Summer Florence Program.
"I had no idea that it would become home to me even though it was such a short period of time. Because those six weeks were so amazing for me, coming home definitely felt like a whole new world," she says. "I remember when I first got back to my house everything seemed so different even though nothing had changed."
Studying away can be life changing and during the month of October, UNH Manchester is taking time out to get that message out to students.
Whether it's teaching English to Buddhist Monks, exploring Shakespeare's stomping grounds or navigating the tube system in Scotland, every aspect of a study away opportunity is a learning experience. And with access to more than 550 programs between UNH Manchester and UNH in Durham, the possibilities are endless for meeting personal and career goals and expanding opportunities with the decision to study away.
"These students can gather interpersonal skills and independence that they might not experience another way if they just stayed here in Manchester," says Marisa Forti, Academic Counselor and Coordinator of Study Away programs. "The opportunity is also a chance to increase their resume. Less than four percent of students study abroad, so just statistically they put themselves at the top of the pile. If you take a look at what employers want, they want people who can communicate and have good interpersonal skills. They want employees who have independence and autonomy and who are able to interact in a global environment -- and these students can point to something on their transcript where they can articulate that."
The world gets smaller every day, with an ever growing list of occupations and companies expanding their reach across oceans and continents. In this new borderless world, the student who studies abroad gains a crucial edge.
"Study Away is beneficial to students in so many ways," says John Cerullo, history professor at the University of New Hampshire at Manchester who and was involved in UNH’s Budapest program. "We live in a globalized economy, and so many businesses have operations of one sort or another abroad. The person who has some experience in navigating unfamiliar customs, languages, regulations, etc. has a leg up on the competition for jobs with a future."
From countries like Italy, New Zealand and Ghana to areas across the United States such as the U.S. Virgin Islands and Colorado, growing numbers of UNH Manchester students are learning firsthand about other states, countries and cultures.
Students who study away not only have a chance to study, conduct research or intern in a state, territory or country he or she has only dreamt of going to, but to be fully immersed in another culture. And in that way, fully experience and absorb the true nature of that new and exotic place.
"Immersion in another culture can be a very meaningful part of a student's personal maturation," Cerullo says. "Practices, habits, values and standards that we take for granted as 'right' because they are all we know are suddenly no longer so obviously right -- the people we're living among often have very different practices, habits, and standards, and theirs seem just as "right" to them."
Cerullo goes on to say that for the first time, the student has something to compare his or her own notions of "normalcy" with. This is especially important for UNH Manchester students, Forti explains, because many of them have grown up and stayed close to the Manchester and Merrimack Valley areas much of their lives and aren't getting the residential aspect of their learning experience. Further, each study abroad experience is unique and often tailored to the student taking the trip.
For Erin McKone, a Communication Arts senior, it meant visiting the Gonville and Caius archives and Trinity College library in Cambridge during her study away trip. During these tours she was able to see the personal bible of Queen Elizabeth I with all its history written inside, an original A.A. Milne manuscript of Winnie-the-Pooh as well as a box of Sir Isaac Newton’s belongings. For Kyle Charrette, also a Communication Arts major, his trip to China meant seeing in person Tiananmen Square, The Great Wall and The Terracotta Warriors, which are 8,000 sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China, which were buried with that emperor.
Assistant Professor of Biology Patricia Halpin says she regularly invites Forti and students who've studied abroad to speak to her classes to encourage her Biology students to study away. One former UNH Manchester student Kellie Howard '12 made a particular impact on Halpin's Principles of Biology class.
"Kellie specifically discussed how you could study away as a biology major," she says. "(Students) can gain work experience in their field that they would not have the opportunity at the same level in the US. Kellie was able to assist in surgery while in Africa. She would only be able to observe an ER in this country."
Further, students who study away, just come back different.
"Maybe the single most visible outcome of the study-abroad experience is the elevation in students' confidence levels," says Cerullo. "You can really see the difference between the hesitant, unsure kids who start the experience, and the confident, poised, seasoned young adults who finish. They know they have taken on a real challenge, and come out on top. The confidence they build is something that will never leave them."
That was certainly true for Olivia Marchioni, a sophomore in the business program at UNH Manchester who studied abroad this summer.
"Scotland has changed me in so many ways that are already apparent to me. I feel I have gained from this all that I wanted to . . . a sense of independence, of being culturally aware, and of adventure. I did and tried things during this trip (like staying in a hostel in bunk beds with eight strangers) that no one (including myself) ever expected I would or could. I navigated unfamiliar cities and public transport, stepped out of my comfort zone socially, made friends with all kinds of people, and just let myself have fun," writes Marchioni in a blog article about her experience, "Saying Goodbye to Scotland".
The same was true for Marcello, who says, "I learned the value of independence," she says. "I now know how strong I really am. I learned that absolutely anything is possible in life. If there is a dream in our heart it is there because we are supposed to follow it. I followed my dream to study in Italy and it led me to many more dreams that I will make come true. Just remember that there is a whole world out there waiting to be explored!"
Contact Marisa Forti for more information about Study Away options available.
