I was in Miss Sivonek’s third-grade class when my Scandinavian obsession first took root. We were assigned to pick a nationality that had been written on a stack of index cards and make one craft to represent its December traditions, be it Christmas or whatnot.
As I approached the table, I saw that two cards remained—Iceland and Denmark. I was neither Icelandic nor Danish, but I decided that Denmark just gave me a better vibe. And not long after I made my craft—a wreath with candles glued to it—I discovered a little color-tinted tin filled with Danish cookies at my grandfather’s house. They were made in Denmark but purchased in the states, and my grandfather and I would sit there eating these wonderful buttered cookies while he’d tell me how he first discovered them while in France during WWII.
At eight, most kids aren’t reading books on the history of Copenhagen, but I’m sure they are, or have, read books by Hans Christian Anderson, a native of Denmark. So when my fellow classmates weren’t intrigued by my knowledge that Denmark has one of the longest-ruling royal monarchies in the world, they could at least identify with Anderson’s laundry list of fairy tales and be somewhat enthused.
Fast forwarding to the summer of 2007 when I transferred to the University of Pittsburgh, the first thing on my list of things to do was to check out the study abroad office. My former school didn’t really have much of a study abroad program, so I was excited to take advantage of such a great opportunity.
While Pitt-Greensburg does have a nice variety of programs, I found only a few Pitt developed. Out of the three countries available, none were anywhere near Scandinavia. The eight countries offered in the exchange program weren’t really what I was looking for either. I was getting a bit discouraged, but I checked out the Pitt affiliated section of the study abroad page. This page really has something for everyone. I found an affiliated school in Denmark, but after researching it, I again wasn’t quite what I was looking for.
I’ve talked to a few other students who thought there wasn’t anything more they could do. They thought that, since Pitt didn’t have their program, study abroad wasn’t meant for them. What they didn’t know is that there are other options out there. IIEPASSPORT.ORG is an amazing resource for any student who feels stuck.
The Web site will ask you what you would like to study and where and/or featured cities and languages of study. After selecting the fields that best fit your needs, the site does a search of all schools offering your courses in the area of your choice.
What a lot of students don’t realize is that you can go on just about any other college’s Web site, and if you find a study abroad program at their school, you can go through them and utilize their program. When using IIEPASSPORT.ORG, many different colleges and universities from around the United States and abroad will show up, giving the students alternative options other than their home campus. The only exception in some cases is exchange programs, which for the most part are only offered to students that attend the school. But in most scenarios, when students go through a different school, they often pay that school’s tuition.
After filling out the university’s study abroad contract, it’s as easy a picking out classes and filling out a few forms to have the credits transfer back into your home school. Since student taking this option aren’t using a sponsored or developed program, grades just come back as pass or fail. And sometimes, if you search hard enough, you can even find programs that cost significantly less than those through your home campus.
With the numerous other options out there, it’s silly to settle on a program that doesn’t fit your needs just for the experience. And while some students might deem the experience more important than anything, you still need to make sure that the educational aspect is on target with your degree requirements and your wallet. So definitely explore all of your options before choosing a program.
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