By Lena LaJoy

Every year, students at the University of Maryland travel abroad, excited to experience culture and life in new cities and countries. 

Students have the opportunity to study overseas during the fall and spring semesters as well as during winter and summer breaks for shorter periods of time. The study abroad program allows students to travel all around the world to study what they want, where they want. 

While study abroad is offered at UMD year-round, many students particularly choose to take advantage of this opportunity in the spring semester. 

Josie Coyne, a junior business management and marketing major, said she knew she wanted to study abroad to boost her resume and because her family was very supportive of the opportunity. 

“Our professors here tell us that only, like, 15% of the kids in the United States can go abroad,” Coyne said. “It’s one of those things where if you have the opportunity, I was like, ‘Yeah, of course I’m going to do it.’” 

Coyne, currently studying in Rome, said she was nervous about this at the start of her travels because it is a big city. However, she said she loves it now because it is easy to travel to other countries. 

Coyne has enjoyed being close to a travel hub and has traveled to other cities in Italy, such as Florence and Tuscany, and countries like Morocco, Scotland and Barcelona. She also plans to travel to Malta and Dublin. 

She said that out of these destinations, her favorite so far was Edinburgh.

“We went the week after Morocco … I just loved the vibe there. It was very chill, and it was nice to be somewhere where their primary language was English,” Coyne said. “It made me feel like I was at home.”

Sydney Rorke, a junior environmental science and policy major, said she also has enjoyed traveling to other countries while studying in Barcelona this semester. However, studying abroad was not always her plan. 

Rorke originally planned to travel abroad in the fall to Ireland. However, when she was unable to get housing, she pivoted and decided to study in Barcelona instead. 

“It was cheaper, I would have the beach and the weather was going to be way nicer than pretty much everywhere else in Europe,” Rorke said. “That’s how I decided on Barcelona.” 

Rorke said she was very homesick the first two weeks in Barcelona, but said living with three of her best friends helped make the process smoother. 

Rorke’s experience in Barcelona has been very different from school at UMD. She said she only has two classes a day, each lasting around two hours, and her classes only have around eight people in them.

“It’s definitely not a lecture style at all,” Rorke said. “You have to participate. Your grade is 30% participation and … there’s no filler grades, so everything really depends on your midterm and final.”

Junior psychology major Macaria Pelofsky is studying abroad in Florence noted that school became stressful during finals week. 

“They know you’re here to see the world,” Pelofsky said. “They don’t want to be annoying. They are very accommodating, but when it comes to the midterms, yeah, that week sucks because you have four exams back to back.”  

Pelofsky said she has loved her experience abroad and meeting so many new people. However, she has experienced some culture shocks that she was not expecting. 

She said the first time she went to a grocery store, it was difficult because she did not speak the language and had dietary restrictions that made shopping more difficult. She also said that being abroad has changed how she dresses when walking around. 

“When I go to study at a cafe or something, I can’t wear sweatpants to study because… I’ll get stares, 100% I get stares, so there was definitely a little adjusting to that,” Pelofsky said.

Coyne, Rorke and Pelofsky agreed that UMD students should study abroad if they have the chance because of the amazing opportunity that it provides. 

“My roommates and I always talk about how it’s made us grow so much as a person because you’re thrown into living in a foreign country all by yourself, and it puts you into some uncomfortable situations, but those situations help you grow,” Coyne said. 

Featured Image: Front of the Education Abroad office in H.J Patterson Hall. Photo by Kendrick Brown.