International & Domestic Programs Student Stories

Calder Hollond ’21 earns an award for academic achievement abroad from the Forum on Education Abroad.

If you have already seriously considered studying abroad, you have probably imagined the possibility of a homestay with a local family.

When I was applying to colleges, I was confident that I wanted a small college experience. I didn't even consider colleges with more than a few thousand students, and I ended up at a school (that I love) of 1,600 students.

Once I decided to go to Madrid through Middlebury Schools in Spain, the next big, looming question was where on earth in Spain's beautiful capital I should live. 

I often receive the question ‘why did you choose to go to South Africa to study abroad?’ I’ve known I was going abroad in Cape Town on the Globalization, Environment, and Society program since early on in my freshman spring of college.

“In a few important ways, Morocco did not feel especially foreign to me. It is a Muslim country, and I am a Muslim. It is largely an Arabic-speaking country, and I speak enough Arabic to navigate comfortably.”

“To me, learning languages is a way of showing respect, and it also allows me to access nuances of culture that would otherwise remain opaque.”

“When conversing with my small group, I was given the opportunity to take a deeper dive into what authentic Hong Kong life is like.”

“We innovate to adapt: make changes in response to change.”

"Coming to Amman, I knew that gender dynamics would be more pronounced in a Muslim country, but was surprised by the extent of the divide."