Sophomores reflect on studying abroad early

Each year, 60 percent of Middlebury juniors study abroad, but Lisa Luna ’13 and Ethan Galiette ’13 are switching things up. Both are currently spending the spring semester of their sophomore year abroad. Luna is studying geology and ecology at the Universidad Austral de Chile through Middlebury’s C.V. Starr School located in Valdivia, Chile. Luna is also interning with the Chilean forest service, Corporacion Nacional Forestal de Chile (CONAF) to design a field guide for a new national park. While most Middlebury students study abroad during their junior year, Luna felt like it was time.

“I was ready to do something different,” Luna wrote in an email. “I think that the desire to fly away occurs at different times for different people, and it’s good to embrace that urge when it happens.

“Early is only a relative term,” said Luna, “and I know that I was ready to go when I did, and that I’m going to appreciate my next semesters at Midd far more than I would have otherwise.”

Galiette, too, felt unconstrained by the tradition of studying abroad junior year. He is studying economics at University College in London and taking two history classes that focus on London.

“It was a great decision for me to study abroad my sophomore year,” he wrote in an email. “I decided to study abroad now for a couple of reasons. Since I play soccer, my only option was to study abroad in the spring term, and I don’t see much of a difference between going sophomore spring versus junior spring. Either way I’d miss a spring term at Midd.

“That being said,” he continued, “it is more important to land a summer internship for the summer after junior year than after sophomore year and I did not want to have to deal with applications, interviews and even flying back and forth to the States for face-to-face interviews while I’d be studying abroad.”

Chile and London are two vastly different places but they do share one thing in common: they are both big changes from Middlebury, Vt.

“I think that the biggest benefit for me has been gaining some perspective from outside of the Middlebury bubble earlier on than most students,” said Luna. “Being here in Chile has helped clarify some of my goals for the rest of my time at Midd and for my time after Midd.

“It’s also shown me just how much I have learned from my time at Midd so far,” said Luna, “which is often hard to grasp when you’re desperately typing away in Bi Hall at 3 a.m.”
Galiette agreed that exposure to a different culture has been one of the biggest benefits of studying abroad.

“Studying in one of the biggest cities in the world is a great change from the pace at Middlebury,” said Galiette. “I live in a dorm with British students as well as international students, including Americans. Being in London has made it easy to travel through Europe as well. And I’ve been to the Emirates to see Arsenal play — one of the greatest experiences possible.

But Luna reminds us that although studying abroad is an immersion into another society, it’s still another college term.

“It’s just like normal life, but in a different place,” she said. “I think the thing to remember about this being an ‘experience’ is that yes, it is an experience, but so is every single day of every person’s life.  What I mean by that is that this isn’t a game, and it’s not a break from ‘normal life,’ but rather a really awesome part of normal life that happens to be lived in a different place and a different language.”

While it is normal life, it cannot be denied that the different place and the different language are influential components of a term abroad.

“The best part about studying abroad for me so far has probably been the language,” said Luna. “I absolutely love speaking Spanish all the time.  I’ve also had an excellent time at my internship.”

Since Galiette is studying in London, the language barrier has not been an aspect of his term there. But the European culture has been a change from which he feels he has greatly benefited.

“The best part of being abroad is meeting new people from all over the world and living in a new culture,” said Galiette. “Traveling through Europe goes along with that point as I have seen many different areas and cultures. I don’t have too many negatives about being abroad. The one that jumps out to me is missing friends back at Midd.”

Both Luna and Galiette stress that study abroad is not something students should feel has to be confined to junior year and that the decision to study abroad should happen when it works best for students.

“I would definitely recommend studying abroad when you feel ready,” said Luna. “If that’s earlier than most people go, that’s okay. If it’s later, that’s good too.

“Study abroad isn’t just something that you do as part of your education,” said Luna. “It’s part of your life. So choosing when to do it is really important, and I think that going at the time that feels right makes the experience so much better. It’s not about age or ‘preparedness’ in a numerical sense. It’s a personal choice, just like everything else in life.”