OXFORD, Miss. – While Sarah Faggart of Lincolnton, N.C., had taken trips outside the U.S. before, her recent University of Mississippi Study Abroad experience topped them all.
A rising senior communicative disorders major, Sarah spent the spring semester enrolled at Liverpool Hope University in Liverpool, England. Besides earning 12 credit hours toward her UM degree, the experience added even greater value to her college education.
“I love to travel, and Liverpool became my gateway to so many other places,” she said. “I also gained a strong sense of independence and came to appreciate many other cultures.”
She was among 109 Ole Miss students participating in UM Study Abroad programs this spring. Each year, the Study Abroad Office sends around 600 students abroad offering programs in more than 80 countries covering Latin America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa.
Her Liverpool classes included International Tourism Management, Mentoring Young People, Political Pyschology and Memory (another psychology class). She found the learning experience to be quite different. There’s no homework, and instead of quizzes and tests throughout the semester, assessment is based on “huge papers and presentations,” she said, and each class meets only once a week for two hours.
On a EUROtrip during her three-week Easter break, she spent a week in Malta with her tourism class, then traveled on her own to Rome, Venice, Vienna, Prague, Berlin, Munich and Barcelona. Her weekends included trips to London, Birmingham, Oxford, Bath, Stonehenge, Paris, Amsterdam and Dublin. She also made it to Edinburgh, Scotland, before returning home in mid-May.
Upon her arrival in Liverpool, Sarah faced few problems getting used to her new environment. The LHU enrollment comprises mostly English and Irish students, with only around 10 American students and a small percentage of internationals; however, living arrangements and travel united them beyond their cultural differences, she said.
“Basically, all visiting students lived in the same community of flats, and everyone spoke English. Also, the people in Liverpool are so friendly, all of which helped make my stay so enjoyable.”
Adjusting to public transportation was more challenging than making new friends, she said. “I could not just hop in my car and go. I had to figure out the bus system and learn which train to take depending on where I was headed.”
Evaluating her semester-long experience, Sarah said, “I feel that I have a more open mind about people from other cultures, and I think my unique experiences – that can only take place in another culture – will set me apart from other students. It really allows you to figure out who you are as a person and grow up.
“I also learned what it’s like to slow down and enjoy life as the Europeans do, in contrast to the American fast-paced way of living.”
But Sarah is not slowing down just yet. After spending less than two weeks at home in North Carolina, she headed to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on a missions trip, where she is “working in an orphanage and teaching English, and helping out in any way I’m needed,” she said. She plans to return home July 16 and to Ole Miss this fall.
Sarah is scheduled to receive her bachelor’s degree at UM in May 2011. She wants to attend graduate school in further preparation for a career as a speech language pathologist in a clinic or private practice.
The daughter of Edward and Linda Faggart of Lincolnton, Sarah graduated from Charlotte Country Day School. She has been on several other mission trips abroad, and she traveled to Italy on a school-organized trip for transcript credit.
For more information about UM’s Study Abroad Programs, visit http://outreach.olemiss.edu/