For Ginnie Seger, what began as an interest in Africa due to a childhood fixation with “Lion King” grew into a desire to visit the continent. During spring semester, Seger spent five months in Ghana and experienced what she calls “an awakening.”
“Every aspect of college life here is completely different there,” she said. “Even if you didn’t want to be, you were pretty much immersed in the culture and the lifestyle there.”
As an exchange student at the University of Ghana, Seger at times lived without everyday luxuries students have in the U.S., such as electricity or running water. Even simple tasks like grocery shopping and eating out presented new challenges, she said. There were no supermarkets or restaurant chains.
“This is how people actually live around the world,” said Seger, who manned the International Student Exchange Program table Wednesday in the study abroad fair at the Commons Plaza. “This is normal as compared to the way we live here.”
Each year, about 500 VCU students study abroad, said Stephanie Davenport, an education abroad adviser at the Office of International Education. Though those numbers pale in comparison to international students who study at VCU, which Davenport estimates to be more than 1,000, the amount of VCU students who study abroad have grown in the last two years.
“Studying abroad is one of those things that students are realizing is an important part of education in the 21st century,” she said. “It’s necessary at this day and age to become aware of other cultures.”
Aside from learning about different cultures, students might also gain a better understanding of their career objectives, Davenport added. Though costs for each site vary, students have the opportunity to pick the program that best fits their needs.
At the fair, students browsed the tables of about 20 VCU study abroad programs and 20 independent organizations. Study abroad programs at VCU, which are usually month-long programs in the summer, give first-time travelers the security of being around VCU students and professors. But semester- and yearlong programs at international universities offer students more opportunities to be fully immersed in the culture, Davenport said.
Florian Fink, an exchange student from the University of Applied Sciences in Kufstein, Austria, is spending a school year at VCU. On his first month on campus, he said he already has noticed several differences between his native country and the U.S.
“People in the U.S. seem much more friendly, more outgoing,” said Fink, a third-year international business studies major and volunteer at the fair.
Megan Shady, a freshman at VCU, said she’s interested in studying abroad at any Spanish-speaking country, where she hopes to learn “a different language, just how to be with lots of different people, and kind of go out of your comfort zone.”
Photos of Seger’s trip to Ghana lay on the ISEP table as students inquired about different study sites. For Seger, who has endured life without TV, a cell phone or Facebook, the trip afforded a new outlook on life.
“Life goes on without that stuff. It taught me to be more humble and appreciative,” she said, “of my education here and how good we have it over here.”