By Lindsay Wunrow
The Daily Cardinal
""I don't speak a foreign language.
I am a senior graduating this spring.
I am only a freshman.
I'm not a liberal arts major.""
If any of these thoughts have crushed your study abroad dreams, it is time to bring those dreams back to life.
Most students are familiar with many of the long-term study abroad options available at UW-Madison—a semester in London, studying French in Paris or Spanish in Spain. However, there are lesser known programs available for venturing outside the country that many students are not as familiar with—programs that can cater to every major, interest, time constraint and monolingual speaker.
Opportunities include 25 programs in 17 countries that take place over winter or summer break, rather than an entire semester or academic year.
One of the biggest frustrations for many students wishing to study abroad is a full class schedule with major-specific classes that cannot be put off. Short-term programs can be a perfect solution to this problem since they only last between three and 10 weeks, according to Robert Howell, interim director of International Academic Programs.
""I think this offers students study abroad opportunities who otherwise wouldn't have been able to work it into their undergraduate years,"" he said.
A summer international seminar in Turkey, for example, starts at the end of May and finishes by mid-June. Sarah Atis, professor of languages and cultures of Asia at UW-Madison, took a group on this trip last summer and said because the seminar starts early in the summer, ""students have time to travel independently, study in a summer language program or other type of program, or even return to Madison for a summer job.""
UW-Madison senior Stephanie Hall traveled with Atis and said it perfectly fit her schedule.
""My job requires employment throughout the entire academic year, making it impossible to study abroad for even a semester at a time,"" she said.
UW-Madison senior BethAnne Freund—who has spent one summer in Croatia, one in Cyprus and a full year in Germany—recommended these summer and winter programs particularly for students with limited time.
""They are shorter than other programs so people who want to do something that doesn't necessarily pertain to their major can. It's a good way to jump in and learn something about a topic [you] knew little about,"" she said.
Katelyn Krueger, a UW-Madison senior, also experienced both a short-term program in Oaxaca, Mexico and a long-term program in Madrid.
""It was easier to meet other students in the short-term program,"" she said. ""We lived with families and a lot of us lived in the same neighborhood. We didn't have cell phones so we were always hanging out.""
Freund also noted the increased ability to meet people in short-term programs. She said that since classes are only with other UW-Madison students and the same professor every day, the group got to know each other well.
For students deciding between long-term and short-term programs, Krueger advised thinking about what you want to get out of the program. If time constraints are not an issue, she recommended long-term programs for a better experience of the culture.
Although short-term programs do not allow for the same amount of cultural exposure, they do provide opportunities for first-year students to go abroad—something not possible through most long-term programs.
""A lot of those don't have credit requirements, which means you can even go after your freshman year,"" Freund said.
Seniors need not shy away from studying abroad either, thanks to these options. Students remain enrolled at UW-Madison while abroad, meaning they can register for their next semester's classes and even graduate abroad.
The potential language barriers involved in longer study abroad programs can also be a deterrent for many students. However, most of the shorter-duration programs, while still offered in non-English speaking countries, are taught in English.
Freund attested to the benefits of being taught by UW-Madison professors. ""Its really great to be able to go to Cyprus without having to know Greek or Turkish,"" she said.
Short-term programs are also worth considering for students interested in longer programs later.
UW-Madison sophomore Sarah Whiteakre went to Paris this summer to study film and said her experience helped her decide to study abroad a semester somewhere else.
""I just wanted to see what it was like, and I thought the short-term ones are a good way to see if I really wanted to do it for longer in the future,"" she said.
A common misconception is that only liberal arts majors can study abroad, since many science majors have required classes that can only be taken here.
UW-Madison has short-term options to accommodate these students as well, including an ecology-based class in Costa Rica, a health-and-environmentally-based program in the Dominican Republic, ecology and conservation in Ecuador and life science and biological research in Germany.
The brevity of these programs can also lead to some negative aspects, however. According to Howell, having all UW-Madison students and a UW-Madison professor can make for an isolated environment.
Atis noted that another drawback of such a short-term program is that it is ""amazingly intense.""
""There was no time to adapt or rest because every day was a huge proportion of the overall trip,"" Hall said, adding that going home is often sad because students feel like they just arrived.
""It's really important for students to participate in some kind of study abroad experience,"" Howell said.
Freund agreed. ""It's definitely affected my life in a huge way"" she said. ""I couldn't escape it if I tried.""
