Learning abroad helps EHE students grow as global citizens
“I couldn't be happier that I had the chance to study abroad,” said Anna Eversole, a freshman studying early childhood education.
During her three weeks in Budapest, Hungary, Warsaw, Poland, and Vienna, Austria, with the Global May Hungary program, Eversole learned first hand about Eastern Europe’s rich culture and history. She even made a connection with distant relatives who still live in the Hungarian countryside.
“I now realize how much there is in the world for me to see.”
Connecting students to the world
Each year, more than 2,800 Ohio State students step outside of their comfort zones, just like Eversole, and take part in innovative international experiences.
Currently, the college offers 13 faculty-led study abroad programs including:
- Multicultural Histories and Legacies of the United Kingdom
- Exploring Japan through Sport, Wellness and Culture
- Higher Education in Brazil; and
- Indonesia: Tourism, Culture and Local Communities
Discover all the EHE study abroad opportunities
With these programs, in addition to other global opportunities, the lives of students in the College of Education and Human Ecology are changed each semester.
So why not travel?
For Marisa Lally, a graduate student in higher education and student affairs, it was impossible to get enough of studying abroad.
She found three separate occasions to expand her global knowledge while she was an undergraduate student. Her experiences in Chile, Ecuador and Indonesia defined her undergraduate career.
“Without study abroad, I would not be pursuing my passion for higher education, which I realized in Ecuador due to the mentorship of Jennifer Gilbride-Brown, an expert in the field of higher education,” Lally said.
“Not only did studying abroad benefit my career, but it also contributed to some of my most cherished memories.”
Working to solve global problems
As a doctoral candidate in educational studies, Morris Council III aims to become a leader in developing sound educational policy. He learned, though, that all education is not created equal.
The Higher Education in Brazil: Access, Equity and Opportunity international program allowed him and his study-abroad group to visit several schools in Bahia and Gamboa, Brazil. They also spoke to young people about their education and met multiple faculty members to discuss the barriers to education that young Afro-Brazilian students face.
The trip, which explored the reasons that so few Afro-Brazilians enter college, was led by Distinguished Professor of Urban Education James L. Moore III, professor of counselor education. It was sponsored by EHE and Ohio State’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion.
“This study abroad trip (to Bahia, Brazil), was truly a life-changing experience,” said Council. “It will forever alter the way that I think about educational access and equity.”
To learn more about The Ohio State University’s Education Abroad program, visit https://oia.osu.edu/education-abroad.html.
