Natalie Santangelo ‘23, staff writer
This past summer, LVC sent 14 students over to Europe for an experience of a lifetime.
With the recent study abroad grants gifted by Katherine J. Bishop, every student attending the College will have the chance to receive funding for a short or long-term study abroad experience. This fund will allow the college’s study abroad programs to grow by an astonishing 50 percent.
“We design programs that consider all aspects of our majors and Constellation programs with a goal that every student will have the option to study abroad either for a full semester or a short term,” Jill Russell, Director of Global Education, said.
Specifically, the study abroad experience in Perugia, Italy was the first time the Made in Italy course was offered by Dr. Treva Clark. This unique program allowed participating students to select a second course themselves as opposed to enrolling in a mandatory course.
The Made in Italy: Local Sources, Global Brands course was a five-week program made specifically for the short-term semester of summer 2022. Students learned about the entrepreneurship of family businesses and the Italian economy through field trips, weekend excursions and company visits. With LVC’s new partnership with the Umbra Institute, located in the heart of Perugia, there will be new program offerings next summer.
“I wanted to immerse myself in a new culture and to put myself in a very unfamiliar situation so that I can develop myself and my ability to deal with adversity,” Trey McAuliffe, a second-year accounting and MBA student, said.
Students who take on this opportunity to study abroad will gain a variety of experiences that an average college student will not get in the classroom. It will also allow students to improve on real-life skills.
“I improved on my adaptation skills as well as my communication skills,” McAuliffe said. “Being in a completely new country where I did not know the language forced me to figure things out on the fly which turned out to be most fun.”
McAuliffe also reflected on his favorite site-seeing excursion while visiting the Island of Elba off the Western Coast of Italy, saying, “I’ve never seen water as clear as that before.”
Students had the chance to travel during the weekends, then during the week would participate in class trips and more sightseeing. The class traveled together to Florence, Deruta, and to several family-owned businesses and restaurants to fully immerse themselves in the Italian culture.
Both McAuliffe and Russel expressed their strong recommendation of the study abroad experiences to current and future LVC students.
“I would 100% recommend this to all students,” McAuliffe said. “It will be the time of your life and there is nothing that will ever compare to it. Whether you are there for five weeks or several months, you are guaranteed to have incredible experiences and several new friends”.
Russell emphasized that students thinking about studying abroad should schedule an information session with her.
“College is the time to challenge yourself with new friendships, new academic concepts, new social and club interests and professional development opportunities,” Russell said. “I strongly believe every student should attend one info session, or set up a meeting with me, to learn more about our study abroad programs before students make a decision to not participate.”
The global education department will continue to set up information sessions open to all students in different areas of study. Students are encouraged to attend these sessions to learn more about what LVC study abroad programs have to offer.