From Study Abroad to Graduate School! #HogsAbroad in France

From study abroad to Graduate School: a story in 4 photos!

Jordan Fontenot studied abroad twice during her undergraduate career, and loved it so much that she went on to pursue her master's degree in French at the U of A! We caught up with Jordan on some of her favorite memories and reflections from study abroad.

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Me and my first host family celebrating Bastille Day 2018 at a music festival.

Me in front of the chateau located just 5 minutes down the road from my host mom’s apartment during my second stay. I absolutely loved wandering the streets and parks around here to see all the details of this beautiful structure. My favorite crepe shop was just across the street with a perfect view for studying!

A picture of a few friends and I visiting Toulouse seeing the square right where I stayed on my very first trip to France on the faculty led program, it was a great full circle moment to be back again!

 My best friend and I actually met up on one of my program’s weekend excursions! She was studying in Spain at the same time so we were able to get together several times throughout the semester which was one of the best parts for sure!

These trips were truly some of the most amazing times of my life. My favorite experience overall was probably having the opportunity to be in France to watch them win the World Cup in 2018! It was a celebration unlike anything I have ever seen before and I am forever grateful to have been there. 

I learned so much about myself in terms of independence and handling new experiences all on my own (particularly troubleshooting travel issues in another language as from the time I left the US up until my return, not a single trip went smoothly!) I’ve studied French for 15 years now and nothing cemented my learning as much as these trips. After the first month program I immediately knew I had to find my way back to learn as much as possible! 

These trips also helped me decide to pursue graduate school in order to further my learning even more and hopefully put me in a position to return abroad to teach English. On my second trip I was able to return to see my first host family and practice my French which had greatly improved since my first visit! I still maintain relationships with both my host families as well as several friends I met abroad and when it is safe to visit again, I plan to make a trip to visit them!

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Jordan Fontenot, class of 2020 (French & Communication), Summer 2018 and Fall 2019 in France

Learn more about Jordan's Faculty-Led: French in Perpignan program.

Learn more about Jordan's semester in Pau through USAC.

You can start planning your adventure abroad today! Dive in to our Explore page at https://studyabroad.uark.edu/explore/index.php, and start your program search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/

Machu Picchu!!! #HogsAbroad in Peru #TravelTuesday

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Anthropology major Makenzie Milliken is spending the Fall 2019 semester abroad through ISA in Peru with the help of our Office of Study Abroad Scholarship.

Don't miss your opportunity to study or intern abroad! Start your search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/

Copenhangin' in Copenhagen #HogsAbroad #WanderlustWednesday

I spent 48 hours in Copenhagen by myself and it was amazing!

When I saw the cheap Ryanair flight to Copenhagen, I knew I couldn’t pass up that opportunity, so I booked it. I believe independent travel is extremely important and can teach you some amazing life skills. From planning an entire trip by yourself, coordinating transport to and from the airport, and booking a hostel, there’s a lot to be done- even for a last-minute trip.

When Thursday came around, I got out of my morning class went back to my apartment, grabbed my bag (I only had one purse allowed on the flight) and headed off to the tube stop. From the tube I had to catch the train to Stansted Airport, meaning that you need to leave 4 hours before your flight. I got to the airport in plenty time and waited to board my flight. After the flight, I landed in Copenhagen and the first thing that surprised me was the exchange rate. For those who don’t know, 1 USD is equivalent to .15 DKK (Danish Krones) meaning that you shell out 50/55 DKK per a cup of coffee. That night, I bought a 48-hour public transit ticket and headed straight to the hostel to get some sleep.

The next morning, my first stop was coffee. I found this cute place right near downtown Copenhagen, where I got a croissant and oat milk latte. Luckily, something like 90% of the population of Copenhagen speak English so I didn’t have to stutter through my broken google translated Danish.

After my amazing coffee, I was able to explore downtown Copenhagen. Their public transit was so clean and easy to use, honestly- after using that- it was hard to go back to the dirty London tube. My first stop was the Nyhavn, the cute downtown district on the water, and it was stunning.

Afterwards, I followed the crowd and got to check out the Little Mermaid statue, along the way there were some gorgeous views that had to be captured.

After being a tourist for the morning, I saw a coffee shop that claimed to have the best coffee In Copenhagen and that just couldn’t be passed up. It was amazing coffee and the cutest shop to huddle away from the Scandinavian cold in.

After the coffee shop, I continued to explore Copenhagen and stumbled upon the Torrvehallerne which is basically the nicest indoor farmers market. There I found this porridge place called Grod which had some of the best porridge I have ever had. The one thing I didn’t expect about Copenhagen, but was pleasantly surprised about, was how easy it was to eat vegan. I continued to explore the market for a while, and it was so amazing.

Afterwards, I continued to explore Copenhagen, and I found the best restaurant name, unfortunately I didn’t try the Midwest Diner, but growing up in the Midwest, I can imagine what all of that food tastes like.

After exploring and wandering into a few more shops. I called it a day and headed back to my hostel to get some rest. 

The next morning, after checking out I had the entire day to explore before my late-night flight back. I found a cute café that had vegan coconut milk chia pudding and coffee (of course). Right next door, there was the sassiest restaurant sign I had ever seen that I just had to take a picture of.

The rest of the day, I walked around the downtown and shopped for Christmas gifts for family and friends- as I don’t get back to the states until late December, I am trying to do most of my Christmas shopping now. I got a few things and finally swung by a Starbucks to get my ‘You are Here’ mug. Side Note: I collect these Starbucks mugs from wherever I travel and have gotten 5 so far in Europe. I have no idea how I’m going to get these back home, stay tuned for me figuring that out in December.

After shopping, I headed to the airport early. One of the things I’ve learned in traveling through Europe is always leave at least 4 hours before your flight, especially in an unfamiliar country and when you have to take multiple different types of transit to get to the airport.

All in all, I had so much fun in Copenhagen, it was amazing to travel independently, and I had the best time just experiencing a new city and really going somewhere without an itinerary. I would recommend that everyone go out on an independent adventure at least once- it’s so worth it.

As always, you can follow me on the ‘gram at @saras_travel_blog to see some of my photography and keep up with my travels. Stay tuned next week to hear about my 48 hours in Venice. Until then,

Cheers to your next adventure!
Sara

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Business Economics major Sara Dobrinic is spending the Fall 2019 semester abroad through USAC in London with the help of our Office of Study Abroad Scholarship.

Don't miss your opportunity to study or intern abroad! Start your search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/

Lake Humantay, Rainbow Mountain, and Red Valley! #HogsAbroad in Peru

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Anthropology major Makenzie Milliken is spending the Fall 2019 semester abroad through ISA in Peru with the help of our Office of Study Abroad Scholarship.

Don't miss your opportunity to study or intern abroad! Start your search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/

At home in London #HogsAbroad in England

Hi! My name is Sara and I’m a Walton College Student studying Business Economics with a minor in Marketing. Currently, I’m studying abroad at London Metropolitan University and am having so much fun! We just finished our first week of school and as I’m writing this I am currently on a flight to Copenhagen, Denmark.

I know as I was preparing to study abroad there were so many crazy moments of excitement, doubt, and anxiety. I didn’t really feel ready to write my first blog post with all those emotions and not knowing exactly if I was having the most positive experience yet. However, I’m starting to feel at home in London and want to share with you my experience so far!

Disclaimer: I want to be super positive about my time abroad, I mean I’m getting this amazing chance to travel the world and study in such a culturally diverse city, but I do want to keep it real and talk with you all about the hard emotions that come with such an experience

I worked up until the last moment preparing for my study abroad, between my visa documents, alerting my bank and the American Embassy about my travel plans, and about a million other things that caused me so much stress at the time, but I can’t even recall now. See, what no one told me about studying abroad- and I’m going to be honest and tell you now -is there is an ENORMOUS amount of paperwork. From applying at your home university, applying at your abroad university, doing all the necessary paperwork through your exchange program, making sure your credits transfer, and making sure you have all your visa documents filed correctly, there is so much work to do. I probably started the paperwork for my study abroad and scholarship applications back in February and worked up until the day before I left for London.

Even packing was overwhelming, fitting all you need for three months in a suitcase is rough, and I will admit I have no idea how I’m going to get the things I’ve bought so far over here back to the states (that’s December’s problem).

But all that work was 100% worth it to get me to London, but that didn’t mean the transition was as easy as I thought it would be. In all honesty, I didn’t think much past what would happen when I got to London, I kept thinking I would forget one of the required pieces of paperwork to get my visa stamp- even though I made 3 copies of everything I needed (as well as a copy on my laptop.)

When I first got to London, I was sleep deprived, super anxious, and on top of it all, had just popped a blood vessel in my eye so I was definitely not looking or feeling my best. I hadn’t slept on the plane and didn’t sleep more than maybe 3 hours the first few days I was in London. However, I had done a bit of networking prior to traveling and met up with a girl from my program to hang out for the first few days. The first few days were super exciting, we went to Buckingham Palace, a cute coffee shop called the English Rose, and one day I walked around the London Eye and yes, it was a foggy day in London Town. The tube was super easy to navigate, and I was feeling pretty comfortable, but it still felt like a vacation.

Yes, it was amazing to see the big sites in London and yes, I was definitely in awe. But as my program coordinator said, the new city experience starts to wear off.

I can’t say for sure exactly when this happened but pretty soon it didn’t feel like a vacation anymore, as much as I was (and still am) enjoying living in London, it’s stopped feeling like a vacation and as much as I hate to admit it, I started to feel a bit homesick.

Not even really homesick, I wanted familiarity, I missed my roommates who I could just vent to about my day, my home campus, and I really missed working and earning a paycheck. See, at school I was usually working 25+ hours a week, in 18 hours of classes, and pulling 20+ hours in Enactus, so I was very busy. But in London, I was still making friends and didn’t want to just go out and spend money. As much as I was exploring new neighborhoods, sometimes that can get a little lonely.

All I really wanted to do was call my friends from college, but I challenged myself to make new friends, which I can say is slowly, but surely, happening.

Studying abroad is an amazing experience and I’m so excited to see what the rest of the semester offers. I’m starting to make London feel like home and with the help of some new friends and a routine I’m getting there.

So, this weekend, I’m going to Copenhagen on my first solo trip and I couldn’t be more excited. I’ll update you all with how Copenhagen went on the flight back :) . If you want to follow along with my adventures be sure to follow me on the ‘gram @saras_travel_blog

Cheers to exploring!
Sara

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Business Economics major Sara Dobrinic is spending the Fall 2019 semester abroad through USAC in London with the help of our Office of Study Abroad Scholarship.

Don't miss your opportunity to study or intern abroad! Start your search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/

Festival of the Virgin of the Nativity #HogsAbroad in Peru

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Anthropology major Makenzie Milliken is spending the Fall 2019 semester abroad through ISA in Peru with the help of our Office of Study Abroad Scholarship.

Don't miss your opportunity to study or intern abroad! Start your search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/

¡Vlog número uno en Cusco Perú! #HogsAbroad in Peru

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Anthropology major Makenzie Milliken is spending the Fall 2019 semester abroad through ISA in Peru with the help of our Office of Study Abroad Scholarship.

Don't miss your opportunity to study or intern abroad! Start your search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/