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Study abroad was an experience I had on my college goals list since before I graduated high-school and it was one of the reasons I chose to go to UA. However, by the beginning of my junior year of college, I had written off the idea and had come to accept that study abroad was something that just wouldn’t fit into my schedule because I needed to do internships during the summer and take UA-only courses during the remaining fall and spring semesters. I was disappointed, but ultimately, preparing myself for my future career took priority over an adventure abroad – the way I saw it, I could always go on a vacation after I got my job, so it wasn’t really that much of a loss.
I had pretty much forgotten about my dreams of going abroad, when I received an email that piqued my interest. It was about a faculty-led program in Europe with a course on International Financial Reporting Standards that would take place in London, England and Lisbon, Portugal. I needed some more accounting electives and I had always wanted to go to London, but the fact that I would be able to fulfill my dreams of studying abroad and still be able to do my internship when I got back made this an opportunity that was impossible to ignore. I filled out my application, bought my plane tickets, and then waited for my adventures to begin.
If you are in a major that does not have a lot of study abroad classes that will transfer to UA credits, like MIS or accounting (I’m a double-major in both so there’s not really any space to take classes that don’t count), and/or you need to do internships during the summers, I highly recommend looking into UA’s faculty-led programs. The experience of taking a class abroad with a group of students is something you can only get while in college. You’ll also be able to hang out with the new friends you made after your trip, since the program is all UA students.