[music] [Fritzi Bodenheimer] Montgomery College offers
long term study abroad programs, meaning a semester or more to over 30 different countries.
And as we're about to find out there are some exciting short term programs as well...
Collegewide Coordinator Dr. Greg Malveaux
[Greg Malveaux]....
Also we offer short term study abroad which is typically two weeks and these are just
groups of about 25 student who will go to a location and we will study and tour different
venues throughout that country, or a number of countries ...we've done India as and, we've
done Peru uh we've done China, we've done Vietnam, we've done Turkey, we've done Senegal
and the Gambia, um London all sorts of programs
[voiceover] The programs always have an academic angle, the most recent program took 24 participants
to Germany, Luxemburg and Belgium to explore at business and economics.
Students Jen Farmer and Dallas Howard were part of that trip.
Dallas just completed the television and radio program at Montgomery college and had never
been out of the US..
[Dallas Howard] . It was and awesome trip it was like a graduation present slash birthday
trip for me you know and at the same time everything was very fresh and new...
[Voice over] Dallas took along a video camera and is in the process of editing a documentary
about the program.
Although not her first trip to Europe, Jen had a similar reason for wanting to participate
in the program.
[Jen Farmer] I never visited those countries before, never planned to travel there on my
own time, so I thought the trip sounded pretty amazing and I'm a photography student here
so I thought I could add to my travel photography during that experience..
[Greg] um they are there and they are filming all these moments and all these um you know
learning sort of moments going on as well and I try to tell them that every once in
a while you need to look away from the lens and just take it you know uh as it is
[Jen] traveling it teaches you to appreciate what you have and it - you appreciate other
cultures more so I you know learned more about you know European culture and both appreciate
theirs as well as my own coming back home.
[Dallas] I learned how to be open minded more than what I were.
Um it experience- the experience opened me up to a lot of new experiences that I thought
I would have never gained.
[greg] One of the highlights for example in Germany was when we did our service learning
and we went to this camp for disabled children in Germany and they've discovered through
studies that often times if you have disabled uh children riding horses, it can help them
with their you know different skills and they said you know could you dig out a trench a
circular trench for us and then we're going to put in a better surface for the horses
to be able to walk around.
So we all got out our pick axes and shovels and wheel barrows and really went at it for
a while and...
[Jen] I think that it was awesome to feel like we made a tiny difference in the country
that we traveled to.
[Dallas] The best part of my trip I would have to say was when we arrived in Stuttgart.
You know it was very nice for me I had an awesome time.
I got to go out experience you know, some of the night life.
Um the colleges out there, um just wide open spaces and it was very green.
And it was very nice.
[Jen] The best part of my trip I think was the the experience of traveling with 23 people
that I did not know prior to going and that part of the experience was very unique . I've
traveled before but never in that way and I really enjoyed how everybody got along and
how we were all like sort of this family by the end of the trip.
[Greg] I've always had a passion for travel always had an interest in learning about other
nations other people, cultures, languages um it's just always been there so I just feel
like I'm blessed in a way to be able to have the opportunity for this sort of job where
I can pass on you know the things that mean a lot to me.
[Dallas] I would definitely recommend the study abroad program for someone else.
If you want to just go somewhere and just travel to see new places, you know goin- traveling
to other countries to see how they're developed or how you can help develop another country
um or just for a first timer like me, you know someone whose never been out and experienced
a lot of the world and what it has to offer.
[Jen] Go, go with an open mind and just take yourself out of Montgomery County and let
yourself totally absorb the culture that you're experiencing.
[Fritzi] To find out more about the eligibility requirements for both short term and long
term Study Abroad programs, visit their website at montgomerycollege.edu/studyabroad or send
an email to To Dr. Greg Malveauz greg.malveaux@montgomerycollege.edu.
Also, be on the lookout for posters throughout campus that announce SAID or Study Abroad
Information and Discussion sessions and upcoming trip information.
For Campus Conversations, I'm Fritzi Bodenheimer