BlogAbroad.com - Bonus Material

Bonus Material

Zach, Edward, Clarissa and Abyan aren't the only courageous students throwing caution to the wind and leaving everything they know behind to spend a semester (or even a few weeks) in a foreign country. Welcome to BlogAbroad.com Bonus Material, where you will be given access to other stories of daring individuals and their phenomenal journeys. Read below to find out more...

Special Guest Blog

Tonnia Harry, a Wilmington, Delaware resident and Lincoln University of Pennsylvania student, is currently studying abroad in Nice, France. She won a sweepstakes from StudyAbroad.com, allowing her to travel to Nice with Truman State University. She is originally from Trinidad and Tobago, but came to America when she was very young so she could get a proper education. Now she has gone to France to further that education, and has already visited Spain, Italy, and many other countries, as well as become involved in numerous social gatherings with international guests. Her experiences will be posted on this site as a Special Guest Blog. Read the blog here.

BlogAboad.com's Study Abroad Network

Unfortunately, BlogAbroad can not feature every great study abroad student who auditions. Fortunately, we can put them in our study abroad network, which works just like the main BlogAbroad.com blogs.

If you are a fan of online video (or have ever followed Internet star Amanda Congdon), then you will be blown away by her brother's amazing study abroad adventures, all told through beautiful video. Check that out here.

And if that doesn't quench your thirst for video, check out the BlogAbroad.com staff on Study Abroad Live.

Additionally, here are a few other daring students who have great stories to tell:

Alix Armour is a 20-year-old design major from Long Beach, California studying Mandarin in Shanghai, China at Jiao Tong University. She was born in Hong Kong to a French mother and American father and has always lived between France and California. If her history and her present interest you, then do yourself a favor and read her blog here.

Paige Hendrix is a 21-year-old student at University of Missouri-Columbia who is studying in the United Arab Emirates. Read the blog here.

Michelle Zahler is a 20-year-old senior at Goucher College (the first school in America to require all students to study abroad). She is majoring in Creative Writing and minoring in Spanish. Not surprisingly, then, she is spending her semester Salamanca, Spain, and you can follow her journey at her blog.

Roxann Lopez is a 24-year-old University of Texas at Arlington student studying abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Read the blog here.

Information on Sarah and Laura coming soon.

Also, go to the articles page to read firsthand experiences of students interning and volunteering abroad.

Even Our Employees Go Abroad

We don't just live vicariously through other brave souls. Our actual BlogAbroad.com employees travel to other countries as well.

Kim Gradel, our Product Marketing Manager, studied abroad in London during her junior year at Grove City College. You can find her stories here.

Matt Ulmer, our Corporate Communications Manager, was supposed to study abroad in Rome, but family problems kept him stateside. He did, however, recently spend two weeks in Paris with a host family, and he tells his story via pictures and captions here.

Kathryn Gardner, our Advisor Liaison, has traveleed throughout the world, and has studied abroad in Stasbourg, France. Her exciting story is coming soon.

Student Spotlight

We'd like to spotlight a special blogger through a short Q & A session.

Ashley McDonough is a college junior.

Where are you studying right now?
Germany.

Why did you choose Germany?
I studied abroad in Germany during my senior year of high school and thoroughly enjoyed it, so I made plans to come back here for my junior year of college. Back then I chose Germany because I had taken 3 years of it in high school and I really wanted to learn the language. I had also gone to Germany the summer before my exchange year. I spent a few weeks there and got a "taste" that I wanted more of. Another factor is that I am able to take classes that count toward my major here.

Is your major German?
Funny enough, no. I'm studying Biology.

Are there any differences in the way that Germany teaches Biology?
German universities are quite different from American universities, so yes. I feel like the schools here are much more serious and their curriculum is much more in depth.

Has this experience given you new perspectives on your major?
I feel like I'll be better prepared for graduate school and a career after studying here. It's prepared me to be able to handle more challenges.

Have you decided on where you will go to graduate school?
My dream graduate school is the Max Planck Institute at the University in Göttingen :-)

What are the 3 things that stand out most from this study abroad experience?
Hard to say. Probably the crazy hard classes, German student life, and being able to see lots of Europe.

Oh, you've traveled a lot?
Very much, yes.

Where else have you visited in Europe?
In this year I've been to France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Austria, Liechtenstein, Latvia, and Russia. I also have trips planned for Prague and Kiev.

Wow. Which was your favorite, and why?
It's a tie between Latvia and Russia. Latvia was gorgeous and I had a lot of fun there. But Russia was also great. It's just this amazing place that is a mixture of beauty, history, slums, and chaos.

Very cool. Do you think it will be difficult returning to your home university in the US?
I think I'll be somewhat disappointed by it. But I'm rather looking forward to getting back to the organization of my U.S. university. Plus, I'll be taking some fun classes, working in a lab, and graduating soon.

Well, it sounds great. We appreciate your time. Good luck with everything.
Thank you so much. Take care.

Meeting Previous Bloggers in Person

John, Drew, and Matt from the BlogAboad team had the priveledge of meeting with Taylor (who studied in Tokyo) and Tammy (who studied in Costa Rica) in person. They got some great information and toook some terrific photos, and you can experience it here.

BlogAbroad.com in the News

BlogAbroad.com has recently gotten some great press, which is terrific because it means people are really embracing it.

We are especially excited to see education publications becoming excited about this state-of-the-art project. Here are examples of press coverage from the two biggest publications in higher education:

The Chronicle of Higher Education

University Business

Plus, Season 2 blogger Jonathan Jackson was interviewed in Kiplinger's Personal Finance. Click the image to download the PDF.