The Ewha International Exchange and Study Abroad Programs are not the only ways to go abroad. For students who are not accepted as exchange students, there are still doors open to diverse experiences abroad. Other study abroad programs include summer and winter internships, and volunteer works.
Aside from the regular exchange program, Ewha offers many vacation study-abroad programs to prestigious universities such as UC Berkeley, UCLA, FudanUniversity, and the University of Nottingham. The advantages of each program may differ but, for example, for UC Berkeley and UCLA Summer Sessions, the Office of Global Affairs (OGA) grants scholarships and a Day Tour Program for students with the highest grades. Han Seung-yon (International Studies, 4), who went to UC Berkeley for the summer session last year, said, “The summer session was a great chance to broaden my knowledge in the field of Economics, which I was interested in. I highly recommend this program to students who want to focus on their fields of interest, other than their major.”
Overseas internship programs are also grabbing students’ attention since they can not only learn language, but also receive additional points when applying for a job. Knowing that internship really matter for students, Ewha has an international internship program that sends about 15 to 20 students to different countries. Some students also find their ways to look for internships outside of school and Jang Baek-sun (International Studies, 4), who worked as an intern at Asian Health and Service Center in Oregon, U.S., is one of them. “I decided to take an overseas internship for next year’s on-the-job training course. Through the experience of working abroad, I realized that if students want to know more about how life differs in other countries, they should go for an overseas internship,”said Jang.
Working Holiday and Work and Travel programs are also popular among university students. Working Holiday is a short-term program which students can take advantage of during vacations. Students go abroad and get paid to work in national parks, hotels, and restaurants. Work and Travel program is quite similar to Working Holiday. However, the difference is, in the Work and Travel program, after working for a few months, students are given a chance to travel for a month. Many students are eager to apply for these programs since language proficiency is not demanded as a major requirement.
Overseas volunteer programs are also popular among students because the government or a charitable organization often supports the expense. Students who wish to participate can go abroad without spending so much money and also help people suffering from poverty or natural disasters. An Ewha official program called the Ewha Volunteers annually dispatches about 25 students to developing countries such as the Philippines, Thailand, and Cambodia for constructing houses and providing medical support.
Is going abroad the only way to learn English and widen your perspective as a student? Ewha holds an Ewha English Camp in vacations for those who cannot afford to go abroad. Since last year, Ewha also opened the door for undergraduates to take courses in the International Co-ed Summer School, which enables students to broaden their perspectives by coping with international students. Moreover, Ewha has been providing the Harvard-Ewha Summer Program that offers lectures and other activities including video conferences between Harvard and Ewha students and excursions.
