Princeton University

• Read what the The Student Guide to Princeton has to say about studying abroad.

• Check out Margaret Byron '10's blog. Margaret, an MAE concentrator, studied at the University of Melbourne during Spring 2009. Trinity Today also featured Margaret in its May 2009 issue: "A Princeton Perspective" (.pdf).

• Also check out Matthew Drecun '10's blog. Matthew, a politics concentrator, studied in St. Petersburg through the Bard-Smolny Study Abroad Program during Spring 2009 and also is participating in the Princeton Global Seminar in St. Petersburg this summer.

Beza Tesfaye '09
Woodrow Wilson School
CIEE-Suffolk University, Dakar, Senegal

Living in Senegal is a truly life changing experience: the culture, the religion, and the physical beauty of the country are all features that make this study abroad program unlike any other. Life in Senegal is completely different from life in the States. If you go there with an open mind and make the effort to integrate yourself into the culture as much as possible, you will come back a new person. For the most part, my academic goals were met (especially to greatly improve on my French), but this experience meant so much more in the end. I have grown from it personally and gained a lot of self-confidence.

Katie Kinnear '09
Art
Syracuse University in Florence, Italy

My time abroad was the semester of a lifetime. I cannot stress the opportunities of living abroad enough. There is something addicting and wonderful about learning a language, calling a new city home, and meeting fascinating people with a totally different (and often surprisingly similar) background. Italy was an injection of life into an academic experience that had become exhaustingly competitive and routine. I also realize how lucky I am to be enjoy the ample opportunities here at Princeton, but I no longer stress out over the small things. There is a much bigger world out there, and I am so fortunate to have had this much education and cultural exposure.

Candice Chow '09
Woodrow Wilson School
Oxford University, England

The Oxford education style is so different from the American style. I feel energized after being so intellectually stimulated. You have to be really motivated to take in a lot and make the experience what you what it to be. I honestly felt like a grad student at some points. It was exciting to have that flexibility about choosing what to learn. It took me some time to get adjusted to independent work, but I feel that I am now prepared to tackle it at Princeton, and I will now look at Princeton in a completely new way (which I didn't really expect!).

Alexander Metelitsa '09
Politics
Central European University, Budapest, Hungary

CEU really promotes the idea that the most learning takes place outside the classroom. In classes, I met fascinating people from former Yugoslavia, Central Asia, and other exotic places and then stayed up long into the night with them discussing everything from the EU to queer theory. The students created an exciting intellectual climate. I learned a great deal about critical thinking and the need to constantly reevaluate your beliefs and challenge your own ways of thinking. I believe I've become a more careful and thoughtful writer and thinker as a result of my experience abroad.

Fiona Miller '09
Comparative Literature
Hamilton College Academic Year in Spain, Madrid, Spain

It is generally accepted that academics abroad will be less intense than academics at Princeton, but I would say that what my academic workload lacked in quantity, it made up in quality. My professors in Spain were equal to my professors at Princeton--unbelievably brilliant, unbelievably knowledgeable about their subjects, and, as is customary in Spain, unbelievably passionate. Studying abroad was also a huge reality check for me and pretty much put my whole conception of life and my future into perspective. Personally, traveling made me realize how narrow my worldview had been, how small the circumference of my life, and how many, many more people there are in the world to meet than I ever imagined.

Jessica Berry '09
English
Goldsmiths College, University of London

I found my courses at Goldsmiths to be incredibly rewarding and engaging without restricting my ability to explore the new environment in which I found myself. After settling back into life at Princeton, I remain continuously startled by little skills and large insights acquired overseas: cooking for myself, planning an event, organizing my time, weighing current global and personal developments with a broader, less "American" perspective. I find myself in constant dialog with memories of  places--my favorite spot in Greenwich Market, my favorite restaurant in Canary Wharf, as well as people--my four flatmates, my tutors, my ballet teacher. To read Dickens' description of the fog in Bleak House or Wordsworth's sonnet inspired by the view of the sunrise over London from Westminster Bridge, and then step out my door in a pair of running shoes and see those scenes come to life--that is something I will never forget.

Porter White '08
English
Hertford College, Oxford University, England

Had I stayed at Princeton, I would have had, I suspect, more of the same. This is a lovely same, and I felt nostalgic for Princeton even before I left. But Oxford is an entirely different kind of academic experience: more independence, more writing, more required thinking, less grade evaluation, more evaluation of the substantive sort, that is, evaluation of commentary and argument. Tutorials are perhaps the ideal learning context. For an hour, you are responsible for really hashing it out with your tutor. You have to commit to ideas; you have to learn to argue, to structure your thought. Oxford simply forces you to think. Frequently. Personally,  I have to say that Oxford accelarated my maturation. I'm more of an adult as a result of my life there.

Aaron Weil '08
Art
Universite Paris X-Nanterre, France

It was the experience outside the classroom that defined my stay abroad. Without a doubt, the most important and impacting aspect of my time in France was the wealth of incredible people I had the good fortune to meet. It is difficult to describe the benefit gained from a single cup of espresso enjoyed over the course of an hour while reading a book or watching people pass one after the next in the street. There's no numerical value to be placed on a conversation about Van Gogh. More than anything, I enjoyed the person I became when I was there.

Alanna Gregory '08
Operations Research and Financial Engineering
IFSA-Butler University, University of Sydney, Australia

This experience was probably one of the best for me personally and academically. I gained a renewed sense of confidence about both my academic abilities and also in regard to myself. I was fortunate to travel a lot, which allowed me to take in a lot of the natural beauty of the country, meet great people along the way from all parts of the world, and also be independent and learn things on my own.

Julia Peppiatt '08
Politics, African Studies
University of Cape Town, South Africa

I had the chance to learn about politics from a different, more developing world perspective, and faculty at UCT were friendly and accessible. The workload was interesting while still allowing me plenty of time to travel and enjoy things outside the classroom. South Africa is a fascinating country that has a great ability to impact the way you think about things.

Thomas Dollar '08
Woodrow Wilson School
Argentine Universities Program, Buenos Aires, Argentina

The following are bad excuses not to study abroad:

• Our time at Princeton is so short already. This is true. However, your one semester spent abroad will so greatly enrich your seven other semesters at Princeton that your overall experience will be enhanced. Study abroad will make you a better person.
•  I can't manage my JP abroad. This is nonsense. A JP abroad should be no more stressful than a JP written at Princeton. You may even be able to do first-hand research that you could never do at Princeton. Writing a JP abroad does require initiative and self-motivation--characteristics that all Princetonians should possess in sufficient quantities.
• Study abroad conflicts with eating club stuff/ house parties/social events/the dodgeball tournament, etc. This one deserves a special Bronx cheer. There were times that I missed my eating club, and I was certainly sad to miss the dodgeball tournament. These losses, however, are piddling when compared with the experiences gained by studying abroad. Anyone who suggests otherwise should have his horizons broadened. Study abroad is a good place to begin. Get out and do it!