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/

Take Hold of Opportunities #StudyAbroadDay #HogsAbroad

For the Fall 2020 semester at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea, it was an extremely difficult time to study abroad due to the COVID-19 pandemic but I was still able to experience all you can eat kbbq, a train to Busan, cafe culture, and much more even with restrictions. I learned to take hold of opportunities because there's so much I am capable of if I can make it happen.

In Hangzhou in Summer 2018, I was able to practice my Chinese language skills in a much more intensive and useful environment on topics like ordering food, having normal conversations with college students, etc. I was able to try the spiciest thing I've had in my life with Hot Pot in Chengdu, Sichuan.

--Kelvin Feng, class of 2021 (Mathematical Sciences), Summer 2018 in China and Fall 2020 in South Korea

Learn more about Kelvin's Faculty-Led: Intensive Mandarin language & culture program.

Learn more about Kelvin's USAC program in South Korea.

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/

Meet One of Our Study Abroad Peer Advisors: Mia Dalton

Me in Mykonos, an island of Greece.

Hey y’all!! My name is Mia and I am a junior studying political science with a minor in Spanish. I spent the last two summers studying abroad with International Studies Abroad (ISA) in Málaga, Spain and Athens, Greece. 

Me and my friend Sarah at the Parthenon on the Acropolis in Greece.

This is my second year as a peer advisor and I love being able to help other students discover how incredible the world is through study abroad. In fact, I sent four of my closest friends abroad last summer and loved hearing all about their adventures. My biggest advice for students is to take advantage of the study abroad opportunities at the University of Arkansas. Many students don’t believe they are able to study abroad for reasons ranging from majors to financials, but trust me we can get you there! 

The city of Toledo in Spain.

I personally spent the last two summers away on honors college scholarships and could not be more grateful. In Spain I was enrolled in an intensive Spanish language course and stayed in a homestay with a local family where I enjoyed home cooked Spanish meals. We were in the city of
Málaga on the Mediterranean Sea and took trips to many other Spanish towns and even one to Morocco. In Greece, I lived in student apartments in a suburb outside of Athens. Living with other students and attending an American college was a very different experience from my previous summer in Spain. We took classes in English with Greek students and were responsible for our own meals. Not knowing the language was also an interesting experience, but luckily most Greeks know English. I spent my weekends traveling to Greek islands and exploring the different cultural norms in each of the isolated towns. I loved my teachers in Athens (and the gyros)! 

Both of these experiences have taught me so much about inter-cultural connections and interactions, as well as increasing my self-awareness of my strengths and weaknesses.

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Learn more about International Studies Abroad (ISA) programs in Málaga, Spain and Athens, Greece.

Come meet Mia and the other peer advisors for a HogsAbroad 101 drop-in session at the Study Abroad House! Come to the office weekdays from 3-5 pm to get all the study abroad basics. Peer advisors are available to help you review your options for study abroad and start searching for a program.

Meet One of Our Study Abroad Peer Advisors: Jon Douglas

Hello! I’m Jon and I’m a peer advisor at the Study Abroad Office. I first traveled abroad to Hangzhou, China where I took intensive Mandarin courses. We were able to travel to Shanghai for a day and went to Chengdu where we spent a week learning about Chinese culture. I ate plenty of food that I would have never thought of eating in America. The foods include duck tongue, cow stomach, rabbit, cow tongue, pig blood, and a few others. They might sound bad, but they were actually pretty amazing. For videos I made in China checkout Youtube.com/thejondouglas.

After this amazing adventure I was able to be an Exchange Student in Brighton, England. Being able to live by the sea for a few months was so nice, especially after only living in Arkansas. The only bad thing was the seagulls that would wake me up every morning. They also like to steal food, so we didn’t get along. During my time in Europe I was able to travel to Barcelona, Amsterdam, Paris, Geneva, Bristol, Bath, and Oxford. Safe to say I saw more than I thought in the short period of time. Each location has its own culture which I loved. Especially the clothing and stores. You never know what you might experience when studying abroad because everyone is different. You should get out and see the world because the stories that you will tell will be amazing.

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Come meet Jon and the other peer advisors for a HogsAbroad 101 drop-in session at the Study Abroad House! Come to the office weekdays from 3-5 pm to get all the study abroad basics. Peer advisors are available to help you review your options for study abroad and start searching for a program.

My Experience Studying Abroad with Type One Diabetes and Celiac Disease #HogsAbroad in Italy

I applied to the study abroad program in Rome, not really knowing what to expect and not getting my hopes up too high just in case I didn’t get in. However, I found out at the beginning of 2018 that I was accepted to the program, and I didn’t really know how to process it at first! I was so excited, but also unsure about a lot of things - I wasn’t quite sure if my family and I were going to be able to afford it, whether the dates were going to work out with my summer plans, and what I should expect as a type one diabetic going abroad. I’m definitely a worrier. Immediately I began to think about what I would have to pack, and what it would be like handling my blood sugars in a different environment. I discussed everything with my family, and despite our nerves, we decided that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I couldn’t pass it up! So I packed up my suitcase with all of my clothes and toiletries and then I packed up another duffel bag full of my diabetes supplies which included test strips, about 25 insulin pumps (I have to change those every three days), insulin, syringes, a glucagon shot for emergencies, lots of juice and skittles for low blood sugars, and gluten free snacks (I also have Celiac disease so it was a little easier to bring some of my own snacks). I was so nervous about going through customs with lots of snacks and items with needles, but I didn’t have any problems at all!

The 10-hour plane ride was not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be! Sometimes being up in the air affects my blood sugars, making them drop a little faster than normal, but I didn’t have a single problem. Once we got to Rome, it was very easy to settle in to our new apartment. Something that was very different than life back home was the amount of walking we did each day. We would walk an average of 8-10 miles every day, which I really learned to love! Sometimes, light activity like walking can lower my blood sugars a little bit without any insulin, so at the start of the trip, I decreased my insulin dosage. However, my body soon began to get used to the walking and I returned to my regular insulin dosage. There were a few times when we walked long distances before meals, and my blood sugars would begin to drop slightly, but I always had a snack on me for times like those. During the full six weeks that I spent abroad, I never had any serious low blood sugars and I was so thankful! It made me realize that living life in a different country was not some crazy alternate universe - it was the same life I lived at home. I went to school, I went out to eat and explore with friends, I spent slow afternoons reading at coffee shops - everything was the same besides the amount of walking I was doing and the amount of carbs I was eating living in a city like Rome; but the spike from the carbs was balanced by the excessive walking. For example, at home if I ate a few slices of pizza, my blood sugar would shoot up pretty quickly. But in Rome, we walked to dinner, making my blood sugar a perfect level right before dinner, and then we’d take a long walk back home after, so my blood sugar stayed much steadier since I was moving my body.

Another thing that I was a little worried about was having Celiac disease and going to a city that was known for pizza, pasta, and bread! I thought I’d be living off of salads during my whole time abroad. I was very wrong about that! Nearly every restaurant we visited either had gluten-free pizza, pasta, or both. And it was some of the best food I’d ever had! So much of a city’s culture comes from its food, so I was nervous that I wouldn’t be able to experience that element of Italian culture, but every restaurant I went to catered to my dietary restrictions and used the most careful procedures to ensure that my food was prepared in a contamination-free zone. I even found an amazing gluten-free caprese sandwich at a small cafe in Capri, a very small Italian city! After Rome, I went to Paris for a few days, and I experienced the same availability of gluten free foods, and the same care and concern used to prepare it. I was so pleasantly surprised by the consciousness of these dietary restrictions and health concerns in both European countries!

I look back on my six weeks abroad in Italy and France as the greatest time of my life so far. I felt incredibly independent and I loved learning about different cultures through their art, the structure of their cities, their beliefs, their people, and their food. Those six weeks abroad really taught me never to let my health issues get in the way of living my life. If I had let my fears and anxieties take over my thoughts when making my decision, I would have never experienced the joy, adventure, and independence that I found abroad. My study abroad trip has already helped me make other decisions throughout my life; whenever even the slightest fear about something going wrong with my diabetes or Celiac disease pops into my mind, I just remind myself that I spent six weeks in places I had never been before and in places where I didn’t speak the language! I not only made it out without any issues, but I grew so much from my experience. From it, I have developed a huge passion for travel, and I hope to continue to explore the world without letting my health issues to get in the way!

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Graphic Design major Nicole spent the summer 2018 term at our U of A Rome Center 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/

Adventure Therapy and Leadership #HogsAbroad in New Zealand

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Students spent the summer 2018 term in New Zealand with our U of A Faculty-Led: Adventure Therapy and Leadership in New Zealand program. Applications are open for the 2019 program!

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

Adventure Therapy #HogsAbroad in New Zealand

Kia Ora! My name is Lauren and I am a College of Education and Health Professions student, studying Recreation and Sports Management and working on getting a Marketing minor. This past summer, I got the chance to participate in the U of A Faculty-Led: Adventure Therapy and Leadership program in New Zealand. 

When we arrived to Dunedin, I felt right at home. We were assigned a host family to stay with for the week. My host family welcomed me with open arms and cooked for me every night. They had a daughter of their own as well as another exchange student from Germany.

We moved around a lot when we were over there and got to explore many different parts of New Zealand. When we went to Adventure Development, we got to stay in a lodge with our group, which was a blast. On our last stop, in Queenstown, we stayed in another lodge with other tourists.

If you are traveling to New Zealand keep in mind that they drive on the other side of the road, everything seems more expensive because the price you see is the price you pay (tax is already included) and to make sure you know what season it is before you go. Since New Zealand is in the opposite hemisphere as the United States, it is always in the opposite season as us. Another thing you should remember is that New Zealanders are known for being very adventurous. While I was abroad, I was able to climb the world’s steepest hill, go bungee jumping off the Kawarau Bridge, and paraglide off a mountain. There are so many unique thrilling experiences/adventures to go on when you are in New Zealand. Make sure you budget and just go on as many excursions as you can.

Overall, this study abroad experience was an adventure of a lifetime. The country of New Zealand is stunning, the hospitality is great and I found so much joy in experiencing their culture. I cannot wait to go back!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Lauren spent the summer 2018 term in New Zealand with our U of A Faculty-Led: Adventure Therapy and Leadership program, 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/

Mexico Surprised Me #HogsAbroad in Mexico

Casa Luis Barragan (Roof Top), Mexico City

My name is Claudia Contreras, I’m part of the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design as a fifth-year architecture major with a minor in Interior Design. This past summer (summer 2018) I studied abroad in Mexico. I’ve been in Mexico several times due to having family to visit, but I have never experienced the beauty of Mexico until this summer. Mexico surprised me with its beautiful colors, its amazing architecture and its welcoming Mexican community that made us feel like home anywhere we went. 

Market in Mexico City

Zocalo, Mexico City

Our trip started and ended in Mexico City. We started our adventure two weeks after the spring semester ended and returned to reality on August 5th. Our study abroad consisted of introducing us to a complex new social and physical context through extensive travel research in different regions of the Mexican nation complimented by a design studio in Mexico City conducted in the annex and garden, designed by Luis Barragan, Mexico’s greatest 20th Century architect. While in Mexico City, we lived with Mexican families, and as we immersed ourselves in the culture by embracing the rhythms and experiences unique to urban life in the world’s most dynamic metropolis.

A view on the ocean in Campeche

Ruins of Palenque

With the study abroad program, at the University of Arkansas, I got to travel to places in Mexico that I would never imagine. I can now add Campeche, Palenque, Yaxchilan, Puebla, Veracruz, Tlacotalpan, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Cantona, San Miguel Allende, Mineral de Pozos, Guanajuato, Queretaro, and last but not least, Mexico City.

Santo Domingo Yanhuitlan

Hogs Abroad happy to admire Mexican Architecture

Teotihuacan

The sky is the limit (on top of the Pyramid of the Sun, Teotihuacan)

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Architecture & interior design student Claudia Contreras spent the summer 2018 term in Mexico with our U of A Faculty-Led: Latin America Urban Studio program in Puebla, Mexico, 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/

Personalized to Me #HogsAbroad in Mexico

I had the most amazing experience studying abroad! I attended the Puebla, Mexico program under the health professions bracket. This program to me was unique, it was 5 weeks long (which to me is the perfect amount of time, it was in the summer) and it was personalized to my degree and future profession, nursing! 

My favorite parts of the experience included my host family, the weekend excursions, and the amount of free time we were able to have. My host mom, Rosa, cooked AMAZING food every day and I was so blessed to be able to eat that well every day because we all know college student diets aren’t the best! Rosa and her family were so incredibly welcoming and supportive!! They also taught me a lot about Mexico, took me to popular sites in Puebla, to the markets, and even taught me some of her recipes (her salsa verde was my favorite). 

The weekend excursions allowed for the students to learn more about the culture and explore different cities in Mexico. It also provides opportunities for souvenir shopping, photo ops, and getting to know your fellow study abroad candidates! What I loved most about this trip was the amount of free time we were given, both on the excursions and from the day to day basis. There is so much to explore in Puebla, and we got through most of them during our time there. 

I cannot begin to explain how improved my Spanish was upon my return home from Mexico. Areas that I lacked in included listening and comprehension, however after 5 weeks in Mexico myself and my peers noticed overall improvements in our confidence in speaking with others in Spanish. This study abroad experience was everything I had hoped it would be plus more! 

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Nursing major Hannah Mosman spent the summer 2018 term in Mexico with our U of A Faculty-Led: Spanish Immersion & Service Learning program in Puebla, Mexico 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/

Puebla #HogsAbroad in Mexico

Hi! My name is Mariana Pacheco. I am a Fulbright College Student majoring in Spanish, Political Science, and Latin American and Latino Studies with a concentration in legal studies. For the summer of 2018, I studied abroad in Puebla, Mexico. 

When I arrived, I met my amazing host family that welcomed me with open arms. The first week in Puebla, we toured the city, the university, and we had different professors talk to us about volunteering and service programs in Mexico. Our first weekend in Mexico, we visited Cholula, the city neighboring Puebla City. It was breathtaking. There was a beautiful castle above a pyramid. We were able to walk all the way to the top where the view of the city was incredible.

From the second week to our last week in Mexico, our schedule was mainly the same. We volunteered at an orphanage called Casa Del Sol in the mornings. I had the opportunity to help take care of the babies and toddlers. It was such a great feeling although it was also sad to see all those kids without a family. In the afternoons, we had our classes. Because there were only 3 students including myself in class, we were able to travel around the city and learn a lot about the culture of Puebla.

Our second weekend there, we traveled to Cuetzalan and Yohualichan. Those towns were beautiful! Cuetzalan had a big market where many traditional items like clothes, head wear, key chains, and mugs were being sold by the local people. Yohualichan was very different from any town I had seen. It was small but had a large area with pyramids.

Our third weekend in Mexico, we traveled to Mexico City. This to me was a dream come true as I have always wished to go there. We got to see the National Palace, the National Museum of Anthropology, the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Frida Kahlo’s home and the pyramids of Teotihuacan. We were also able to experience the exciting atmosphere in Mexico during Mexico’s national team’s soccer game against Germany in the World Cup. We saw how the whole country came to a stop while the game was on. Everyone was watching it and when the Mexican team won, everyone was cheering unlike anything I had ever seen.

Our last weekend in Mexico, we traveled to Oaxaca, Mexico. This was also an amazing experience. We saw how black pottery and mezcal were made. We also were able to see more pyramids and the Arbol del Tule, the tree with the stoutest trunk in the world. We also saw indigenous groups selling their beautiful traditional style clothing. However, we also witnessed a lot of protesting. There were flyers and banners all over the center of the city as a form of protest.

Overall, my experience studying abroad in Puebla, Mexico was amazing to say the least. I tried a lot of new food that I never thought I would try. I met amazing local people that I still have contact with even till this day. I also made awesome friends with other students from the University of Arkansas that were studying abroad. I highly recommend everyone to study abroad in Puebla!

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Spanish & Political Science major Mariana Pacheco spent the summer 2018 term in Mexico with our U of A Faculty-Led: Spanish Immersion & Service Learning program in Puebla, Mexico 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/