Entering college, study abroad wasn’t even a blip on my horizon. I was focused on feverishly securing multiple jobs and affording my looming tuition bill on my meager salary and non-existent family financial support.

Hello! My name is Briana Maddox, and I’m currently a senior at Penn State pursuing a bachelor’s degree in media studies with a minor in anthropology. This summer, I’ll be completing the Rome Summer Internship as the last couple of college credits that I have before I complete my undergraduate career. As I get ready to leave for this summer’s Rome Summer Internship Program, I am beyond excited to get to spend two months living one of the most beautiful cities in Europe.

I was born in Maryland. I grew up in Maryland. Now in my first year in college, I am still in Maryland.

Don’t get me wrong: I love my home state. I grew up in a half-rural, half-suburban town, where I learned to drive a snow plough in the winter and a powerboat in the summer. My second home is the small city of Annapolis, where I learned to sail and parallel park. I have attended conferences and concerts in nearby Washington, DC, and now I wake up in a big city every day as a first-year college student in Baltimore.

First things first, an introduction. I'm Kara, a senior at the University of Miami, and I will be interning abroad in Milan this summer. Although I'm a psychology major, my internship this summer is with a modeling agency. There's no way I could be in the fashion capital of the world and not be part of it! I know this will be an amazing experience, but I can't help but feel somewhat nervous. I have always wanted to visit Italy, but I don't know Italian.

I can't tell you how many times I’ve heard “well I would study abroad, but I don't want to miss a semester at school! I’ll miss it too much!” Thats classic fear of missing out, and FOMO makes a lot of sense in this case! College is an amazing four years where you build long-lasting friendships, and it makes sense that you wouldn't want to give that up for a semester!

Hi guys, my name is Christina Hui and I am so excited to be a Photo and Writing IDEA correspondent for the Dublin Summer Internship Program through IES. It seems like just yesterday when I was sitting in my Global internship Preparation class and the word "Dublin" was just another word on my name tag. As the days get closer to my departure flight, it's quickly hitting me that I am about to devote two months of my life to embark on one of the most eye opening experiences in my young adult life. Dramatic?

Many of the students in my program chose to come to Nagoya for Nanzan’s well-designed language intensive program, which means the goal of most students coming here is to focus on improving language skills in addition to experiencing and learning more about the culture of Japan. Though we spend about three hours a day in Japanese class, foreign exchange students are able to pick from a variety of courses, from politics to literature, in order to learn more about the culture.

It’s weird that I have already been here for almost 3 months. I feel like there is still so much I haven’t seen and don’t know about. Buenos Aires is full of surprises and every time I take a different way home, say yes to a spontaneous plan and go to a different café to study, I come across something new. I feel like I don’t appreciate this city enough and although there is still so much I don’t know, I will dedicate this post to the good old Buenos Aires and my discoveries so far :)

Hi y’all!

I’m Mary-Kate, a computer science geek/food enthusiast, and I’m SO excited to be in Madrid for six weeks.

A little about me:

I’m double majoring in Computer Science and Spanish at the University of Michigan

I’m 1/6^th of the @sixvegansisters

I bake (and eat) a LOT of vegan desserts

I’m on the lookout for the best vegan spot in Madrid, and plan to draw from a large sample pool (in other words, I plan to eat a ton of food)

Rabat-Salé Memoire is a free, week-long cultural activity promoting the cultural heritage of Rabat and Salé, including workshops, musical performances, concerts, etc. run by the Association of Rabat-Salé Memoire with the help of high school volunteers from the two cities. I attended a book-binding workshop in Oudayas, a pottery workshop, a Salé walking tour, a musical performance, and the final concert in Chellah.