Throughout the U.S., universities offer various study abroad programs, enticing prospective students with beautiful sights of foreign countries. Before a decrease due to the COVID-19 pandemic, over 300,000 US college students studied abroad each year in order to gain college credit. However, committing to more than just a three-week term in January or semester is rare for U.S. students, as only 3% of students studying abroad extend their stay to an entire academic year.
At Edina High School, some members of the class of 2024 are choosing to go global with their post-secondary education. For seasoned world travelers, the decision is natural; Paisley Andrews made her choice based on prior experience living abroad. “I’ve lived in Belgium and China for my dad’s work. So when I came back here in eighth grade, I knew I wanted to go back [abroad] somewhere,” Paisley said. Paisley will be attending the University of St Andrews in Scotland where she will be studying economics and management. “When I was looking at universities, it was difficult to attend university in a different language. So I knew I wanted to go somewhere that spoke English. And my mom has always joked that I should go to the University of St Andrews because it’s my last name. Then I visited and I loved it,” she said.
For Maya Frydenlund, the decision to study at Royal Holloway, University of London was a goal a decade in the making. “I knew since I was eight years old that I wanted to go study in England and I just wasn’t really sure what school because… I had a little bit more of an idealistic version of what it was going to be like,” Maya said. “Getting a little bit older, I enjoyed the idea a lot more, because I think it’s way less politically inclined, and it’s going to be an interesting culture shock and I’d love that new experience.”
Sometimes, the decision is based on visiting the country and identifying a program of interest, such as Claire Stastny’s experience with the University of Galway in Ireland. “I’ve always really had an interest in going far away for college and I visited Ireland my sophomore year and just fell in love with the country and visited again over Christmas this year and just love the school. I want to study history, so it’s a really great spot to be in to study history,” she said.
On the other hand, Maya decided to accept her commitment to Royal Holloway after visiting the school. “I had some inclination about how the university ranking system over there, and I knew what I wanted to study. So when I was applying to the courses that I chose at the schools that I applied to, I had done so primarily due to their proximity to larger cities. And then also how high their course ranked among other schools for what I wanted to study,” she said.
“I think people get really nervous when they think about going international. I think [you should] just do it because this is a great opportunity to throw yourself into something. You’ve got some plasticity as a teenager, so you can kind of bounce back,” Maya said.
This piece was originally published in Zephyrus’ print edition on May 24, 2024
