Can I study abroad as
an engineer in college? This is a
question that many students often ask.
The answer is YES, and you all in the perfect time of your college
careers to start planning for it!
One of the reasons I became an engineer was because I wanted
to travel. When I came to Penn State I
looked for every opportunity possible to see and learn about the world. The great thing about Penn State is that it
provides so many opportunities for you to do this, whether you do it through an
engineering program or not!
There are semester programs (where you live in another
country for a fall or spring semester), embedded programs (where you may travel
as part of a class), and summer programs (these are typically shorter than
entire semester but still a few weeks in length). Each program is unique and it is up to you to
find one that works for you.
The College of Engineering has many options for semester
abroad programs. You can see them for
yourself here: http://www.engr.psu.edu/global/students/SemStudyAbroad.htm
There are also programs available through the Office of
Global Programs: http://gpglobalea.gp.psu.edu/
Maybe a semester isn’t your thing? Take some summer classes in another country!
Get involved in a class where you have the opportunity to travel. That’s what I did. This past May I traveled to Budapest, Hungary
to present a project that I worked on all semester with my teammates from
Covinus University in Budapest. After my
freshman year I traveled to Costa Rica with the Global Renewable Energy
Education Network. While I was there I
toured hydropower, geothermal, biofuel, wind, and solar power facilities. Not only did I learn a lot about myself
through traveling, but I learned so much about the customs, culture and history
of each place! Studying abroad expands your comfort zone and really opens your
mind to many possibilities.
If you start looking into this now, you can do this too!
Talking to people is a great way to see what kind of program you want to do. Student envoys have an office in Hammond
where you can talk to students who have been involved in a variety of global programs.
The most important thing to remember is that study abroad
takes A LOT of planning. Even though you
are just entering your freshman year, if you are considering going abroad set
up a meeting with your academic advisor and begin planning your classes around
it if necessary. Look into the program
you want to do and see if there are recommendations for how long certain
elements should be completed in advance.
Everyone is different and every experience you have will be unique. Like I said before, all of you are in the
perfect time of your college careers to start looking into studying abroad, so
take advantage of it!
Warning: Once you start traveling you won’t want to stop.
Heather Pieszala is a junior in Mechanical Engineering and a mentor for WEPO'13! To read more about Heather visit her WEPO Profile: http://raindancer45.wix.com/ladyengineers#!heather-pieszala/c1iuf
