Why Global College?
I originally found Global College online.
This is the only four year abroad program.
You’re immediately drawn to it. Your heart starts racing. I really liked the idea of being able to travel while in college.
It’s worth the risk. Take the leap. You’re going to have some of the most amazing experiences of your life.
The second that you decide to take a bus anywhere else in the entire country, get ready for the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen in your life. The beaches are phenomenal.
Wow, anything really is possible.
If you were to ask me would I do it again, I would absolutely do it again.
My interests are so wide-ranging, I can never contain them, so the program was instantly a fit for me.
I had a university education as well, but I don’t think I’ve ever learned how to work the way she works. It’s amazing what they teach them in terms of running their own show.
I was ready for an intense cultural experience and getting a taste of the world.
I wish I would have had the opportunity, the same opportunity when I was going to college.
Especially with the advent of the internet, our world is getting smaller and smaller by the day, and just having an American outlook on things is no longer adequate. You need to be able to see things completely globally in order to be successful in our world.
It’s socially progressive. It helped me further my own interests.
Anyone who wants to take an honest look at who they are needs to travel outside of whatever their bubble or comfort zone is.
It’s just so worth while. It’s hard to put a price on what she’s experienced and what she’s given to all of us. How can you put a price on that?
One of my favorite things about the program is your not out in the world alone. You’re with a group of students who are your age, equally nervous and terrified of being in these countries. You’re working through it together.
You form friends that are like no other friends you could ever imagine because you guys are experiencing so much emotional change that you become incredibly close with these people and to be able to experience cultures with other people is a real blessing.
It really did help me find my purpose which is I think something that is not to be underestimated for somebody when they graduate and they are 22 years old.
It’s completely worth it in the end because you will have some of the most amazing stories to tell in the future. You really will have gotten a great experience out of your college education. I definitely feel like right now this is the best college experience that I could possibly have
Alumni Stories
When I gave my resume, the only reason why the Metropolitan Museum of Art accepted me was because of my international experience..
I am the lifestyle reporter for WNBC.
I speak five languages after four years in Global College.
Personally, I’ve always wanted to do international journalism.
I already have a job lined up for after graduation.
Oh, I got a lot more than I came for.
When I gave my resume, the only reason why the Metropolitan Museum of Art accepted me was because of my international experience.
Entirely life changing. I don’t even know where to begin. It was how I started my career as a film maker.
It prepares you by giving you the skill set you need for graduate school or corporate America. Whatever you are going on to after your BA.
I really want to work with children and I want to do pediatrics.
When I left the country for my junior year, I wrote newsletters to everyone I knew, everyone my parents knew.
I have been pushed so much to reach out and to see things that I would never have seen otherwise is the most significant thing.
I had a lot more to talk about than other students might have had and that put me far ahead of the game.
I just can’t believe that I have seen so much in a couple of years that I mean, people don’t normally see in a whole lifetime. It’s just amazing to look back on those years and see how much I’ve done and how much I’ve experienced and to think, “Hey I still have the rest of my life to build off of that.”
When I graduated, I had an incredible resume that really helped me get the attention of my employer.
The way trends are going today, it’s really important to have the international experience.
And when you’re outside the classroom setting, you do gain skills you won’t gain otherwise.
In terms of learning, there is no greater investment in the development of your child. And rather than just learn by memorizing facts, they really learn by seeing and interacting and they have to grow and develop themselves in order to learn.
And so from those newsletters that I wrote with no intention than beside to share this really cool experience that I got to have, it landed me into this career which I live for.
Independent Studies
We went to China, to India, to Thailand, to Italy.
It started in Costa Rica. Then I went to the European center.
We had the option of doing it here in Costa Rica or in Nicaragua or in Ecuador.
The Islamic culture and society in India.
I went to Manzanillo, which is in the southern Caribbean coast of Costa Rica and I worked with a foundation that works with dolphins.
What the program does is give you a combination of structure and openness for you to fill in the gaps.
Basically the structure of an independent semester is you sit down about a month or so before the semester starts and you draw out your learning plan.
And when it comes time to do your independent studies, usually you are working with an advisor very closely and you’re molding it on your needs. You’re molding it on your needs plus the requirements of a university system.
I was able to find out who I was, what I was interested in professionally.
It really expanded her horizons and it helped her grow and blossom as a woman. She’s just so grown up now and independent. She can do anything she sets her mind to now.
It’s a good chance to go to the place most suitable for you needs.
People didn’t really care about the type of degree I had. They wanted someone that had a bachelor of arts or liberal arts degree. What they wanted was the experience. They wanted to know what can you do, what have you been doing.
I did an excavation in Moco Los Crete over the summer. I did ethnography in Tibet.
Really helped me find my purpose in this life. And it really gave me… not only did it change my life, but it also gave me an idea for what I’m living for and I think that is one of the best things an education can provide.
Sarah's Park
My name is Sarah Kruger; I am from New York City.
There’s a huge Nicaraguan immigrant population here who have little access to health care, have little access to sufficient food, to jobs, to clean water and so I began doing research there in that area. Then I came across La Carpio as a neighborhood that I could work in.
A few of our sessions at the clinic, we took some time to play and the kids would take me to the landfill to play in the landfill. So we’d play in the landfill and it was pretty incredible, a really impacting experience to be in a landfill with these kids and they’re having a wonderful time and really enjoying it, but the reality is, it’s a landfill.
This is how my project, the “La Derecha de Jugar”, which is “the right to play” actually started because I had a class where the assignment was, it was an art project, in the class was to very basically what are your human rights. Tell me in an art, through whatever art medium, what are your human rights. And I got back 30 little art pieces with the responses, the only real common response was the right to play.
And so, when I looked into, I realized there is no open space for the kids to play at all. There’s no... They don’t have access to playgrounds outside the area because a lot of the times they don’t have money to take the bus outside of La Carpio. So for that reason, I decided that what I wanted to do was build a park so that they would have a place to play.
I did a mailing of about 200 people and asking for donations, but also inviting them to a fundraiser which I held at my house and showed a documentary on La Carpio during the fundraiser and had food and drinks and everything and I just raised the money.
And so today was actually the first day I went there and saw the completed park and saw it with kids in it and I don’t know, it was just incredible. I have been working so hard on this project and for so long. It’s been so difficult. I’ve run into so many problems over and over again with the process of getting it done and the fundraising was really difficult for me and it’s just really rewarding. It’s so rewarding.
Costa Rica - Heredia
Honestly, my parents were completely against me coming here at first.
But, then when I came home in December after my first semester here, they read my portfolio and they were so proud of me.
Students initially go to New York and Brooklyn for a two day orientation with their parents and meet the staff, get acquainted, and then travel together to Costa Rica.
The students are placed in the host family after filling out a questionnaire.
Most students tell us that they learn the most in the semester from their host family or from activities they do because they’re speaking Spanish, they’re learning about the culture. They interview them about different topics they’re studying about in the classes.
They’re so patient and they’re so kind and they’re so accommodating. You know, opening their home to me. They were so welcoming.
That’s a very safe environment for the students to be able to experience the culture and with a family that knows the area, knows the country.
They’ve been my biggest support system here. If I have a problem at school, if I’m having a bad day, I go home, talk to them, have some coffee and they just tell me their experiences in life and it always makes me feel better. So, they’ve been… it’s definitely been a highlight. It’s going to be hard to leave them.
That’s a very safe environment for the students to be able to experience the culture and with a family that knows the area, knows the country.
It’s nice to have someone else cook for you too.
My favorite thing in Costa Rice is the mango. The fruit is amazing. It’s from heaven. It’s so good.
There’s a lot of large supermarkets.
There are restaurants that serve hamburgers and fries.
You can get your Hershey’s bar or whatever you’re craving.
You’ll never be without a store or restaurant to eat at or an internet café. Some of them are open 24 hours.
There’s a whole team of our staff, many of whom have been here over 15 years.
I think the staff here are incredible. I think we are so lucky to have teachers with such open minds.
I tubed down the Amazon River. That was really fun.
Talking about the global economy, we take them to banana plantations. So, the bananas they’ve been eating at home all their life, the Dole bananas. All the sudden, a whole new meaning and understanding of how that banana got to their kitchen table and what the implications of that are.
And it’s so much more interesting and intense to see that in person than to read about it on a piece of paper.
As a parent, you just need to let your child experience it, then you’ll see how much they grow, like exponentially and how much they will learn and really just change as a global citizen.
China - Hangzhou
China is something I’ve never experienced before.
China is diverse.
China is massive.
This is definitely one of the most eye opening places I’ve been.
The history is what interests me most about China.
The greatest good and the greatest evil has happened in China.
There’s so many people condensed in such a small area.
The whole city has streets and then trees on either side. The lake itself is … it’s so beautiful especially on foggy days … Not only gorgeous … it’s a great place to live as well.
I wake up and I’m excited to bike to school, honestly it’s so much part of Hangzhou to bike everywhere. I feel like a part of it all.
You’re in one of the best universities in all of China to learn Chinese with some of the best resources …
The teachers here they’re right there. They want to help, they want to be there.
I originally came to China for Traditional Chinese medicine. My notebook is stuffed with what my teacher Dr. Greg Livingston has lectured on in class….
This is my first time on “snack street” But it’s an absolute must if you’re going to be in Hangzhou. The place I went to specializes in these little round things so...
Okay this is my favorite I have to admit. They’re called hairy meatballs. Kind of gross but there’s sticky rice on the outside and it’s always filled with something. It’s random every time.
All the shops in China. Usually the clothes you get they’re on of a kind…. Anything mass-produced is exported so all the unique stuff stays in the country.
When we as a school go to the outskirts of Tibet it’ll be a whole different side of China that we haven’t seen yet.
China is becoming a superpower and huge… modernizing really quickly … the United States is going to need tons of people who know how to speak Chinese.
Everyday I just have to pinch my self and say wow I’m like reliving everything that I said I would one day…
It’s been really exciting and inspirational.
Japan - Kyoto
Japan is wonderful.
Japan is water.
Japan is a beautiful and amazingly interesting country.
It’s probably one of the most unique places I’ve ever been.
We’re surrounded by beautiful mountains and rivers that run right through the city center. So you kind of get a mix of big city and countryside.
Japan is a place to feel warm, to feel safe, to feel welcome… Before I got here I just wanted to learn more of the culture. I didn’t expect to feel the way I feel now.
Japan being very modern and technically advanced country. We also have this sort of classical nature with all the shrines and temples. It’s a beautiful city, the people are very friendly…
It was wonderful to see how welcoming strangers were to us
Global college’s location in Kyoto is perfect.
I feel that global college is a really great way to get introduced to the society. It helps build up basic knowledge of the culture and language …
As far as Japan center goes I’d say that I’ve been able to narrow in on just a few things that I really, really wanted to focus on. The staff has been great in letting me do that.
There’s a great deal of Nostalgia for being in Japan. …While I was over here I spent a lot of time studying Zen Buddhism.
Japanese tattooing I know a lot about because I spent a lot of my time here studying that.
One thing that global college does provide especially the Japan center is a very rigorous academic program, which I love.
You have to do a lot of hard work but it’s rewarding.
The students get the opportunity to study traditional martial arts and it exposes them to concepts such as new modes of learning. …and can set them up to a way of life… That emphasizes harmony, love respect, compassion … It’s such a living philosophy.
What really is culture in general? I think an experience like global college keeps that question coming up. Keep you moving towards a core answer
The food is great. The way I eat is so much healthier than they way I eat in New York.
I’m a big fan of yakisoba… A lot of foods that you can’t get in the U.S. you can get here.
The time I’ve been in Japan, like the time I’ve been in Global College I’ve been able to define and explain who I am and what I feel.
If you have the motivation this is the place where you can learn a lot.