Where in the world... #1

Should I study abroad? That seems to be the question everyone is asking these days: “hey, where are you studying abroad next year?!” The only way I can answer that question is by replying with: “I have no idea! But I will probably go in the summer!” If I had a nickel for every time someone asked me that question, well, I could probably pay for my trip abroad without working crazy hours and more than one job.




To help me make my decision on where to go, I attended the Champlain College study abroad fair. After talking with representatives from different study abroad companies I left with this…

(picture of a book cover, taken by me)

Plenty of media resources to help me begin the decision of my study abroad location. I’ll start with the book about Italy since the cover is really pretty.


(picture of a book cover, taken by me)

Academic Programs International, (API), is one program I have been reading about, for information on Italy, England & Ireland, and Spain. API has programs in 13 countries, ranging from semester, academic year, or for a few weeks during the summer. The informational book led me to even more media resources online. API has a Facebook page, a Twitter profile, videos on Vimeo and YouTube, flickr group, and even their own blog! The book gives information about each school, the dates of the program, courses offered, and the price.

One of their blog posts is all about the first steps to take when considering studying abroad. One step even includes how to decide on a location! Perfect for someone like me. The step? List the top five elements that are most important in location, then research the cities that include those elements.

The video at the top of this post from the API YouTube site, started out with the bandwagon persuasive technique. The actress made it sound like peer pressure to study abroad, then persuaded with scientific evidence. The actress gave statistics about how many college students study abroad each year, what percent stay for the academic year ,only 4%, 56% for a summer, and 40% for a semester. I had no idea that reading one of the informational books from API would lead me to so many other media resources about studying abroad.

Other than the media I took from the Champlain College study abroad fair, I have been looking at some blogs by a few of my friends from high school who are currently studying abroad. Reading their posts will give me an even closer feel of what it is like to study abroad. The Champlain College blogs are pretty helpful too.

The personal shift, to personal/participatory media has made finding all of this information very easy. I can even download free, or pay for travel apps from iTunes to use on my iPod when I’m not near a computer thanks to convergence.

My limbic and neocortex brains are definitely being put to good use while thinking about where to study abroad. The media are filled with beautiful pictures from all over the world. Looking at them makes it even harder to decide on where to go because there are so many places to choose from. Reading all the information in the books,and other media and comparing the best places to go requires a lot of hard work in the thinking brain. A media filled world will do that to the brain.