Study Abroad
of the expenses of studying abroad. Also, the cost of living in many countries tends to be much low- er than in the U.S. (although certainly not always). Hostels, motels, hotels, homestays, or even Airbnb may provide you with affordable housing options for much less than what you would pay in the U.S. For example, in Santa Clara Law’s Costa Rica Program, $22 will buy you a comfortable stay with a local host family and two meals each day.
Additionally, in most summer abroad programs you pay for academic credits you would have paid for anyway to graduate, and the cost for academic credit in some programs is actually cheaper than regular academic credits. Ultimately, in an inter- national law job market where employers are seeking graduates with international experience, language skills, and the ability to work in multi- cultural environments, the real question is wheth- er you can afford not to study abroad.
What if I can’t find a Starbucks abroad?
OK. Maybe study abroad programs are not for everyone. This issue was debated in the Opinion Pages of the NY Times this past summer, where some suggested “students who want to work in our interconnected global world should study abroad”, maybe even for a full year. However, oth- ers cautioned how experiences abroad may not always provide the desired results, particularly where a program is poorly conceived or where the student insists on searching for the nearest McDonald’s or Starbucks rather than immerse themselves in the local culture.
There is some truth to this word of caution. To have a meaningful study abroad experience, you must be open to trying new things. You must also approach this experience with the right expec- tations. Sure, traveling abroad is fun, but if you enroll in an ABA-approved study abroad program, you need to remember that these programs ul- timately have two components: the “abroad” experience, but also the “study” component. Studying abroad includes “studying,” whereas
Here’s what students from all over the U.S. have said about their experiences:
The experiences of both the academic course and the internship in Shanghai directly contributed to my job in Asia next summer.
Joshua Reynolds Hastings College of Law (2007)
The program gave me the opportunity to network with personnel at the Inter- national Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, as a result of which I was of- fered a semester-long externship at the UN.
William Fife III Florida Coastal University (2011) Best summer I have ever had. Katherine K. Santa Clara Univ. (2012)
It’s not an exaggeration that I had the best experience of my life during my par- ticipation in the SCU Sydney program. I made life-long friendships with individu- als from around the globe, networked with high-ranking officials in the British embassy, and enjoyed the overall beauty of Australia. Most importantly, my legal research had significant impact in the lives of refugees. I look back on this ex- perience as a defining moment of my le- gal career.
Andre Thom Univ. of North Dakota School of Law (2014) 21
ILSA Quarterly » volume 23 » issue 2 » December 2014
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88