What is your favorite travel memory?
While studying in Australia with USAC, my friends and I booked a trip up to Queensland during a break to check out the Great Barrier Reef and enjoy a bit of tropical paradise.
We were sharing a taxi to the airport and one of our friends was taking longer to finish packing. We also didn’t account for traffic on the way to the airport. We arrived 5 minutes after they stopped letting passengers check in and missed our flight.
We had to buy a new ticket, but it was worth it. We had the time of our lives, and I have never been late to the airport since!
What is the best story you’ve heard from a return student?
I like to think that every student’s study abroad experience is a success story, whether I hear from them or not. I get especially excited for the students whose lives are changed so significantly that they find a way to return to their host countries to live.
It’s a lovely reminder that the world is as big as it is small and anything you put your mind to is possible.
One of my friends from my semester on the USAC Pau program went back to France to teach English for a while and during her time met her now husband and still lives there! One of my students who spent a semester in Chengdu, China went back for grad school and lives there and works at the American Chamber of Commerce. These are just two examples of how studying abroad can change lives, but there are so many others!
If you could go on any program that your company offers, which one would you choose and why?
Chiang Mai, Thailand: Thailand is at the top of destinations I want to see next. It’s really affordable, the courses, field trips, and optional tours on the programs are so enticing, and Thai food is so delicious! I am also a certified scuba diver and long to dive in the Indian Ocean.
What do you believe to be the biggest factor in being a successful company?
We care and can relate. All of the Program Advisors have studied abroad. We understand the challenges students face in preparing, doing, and returning from a study abroad. We also know first-hand the benefits from studying abroad and are eager to share that with others.
