While the world mourned the lost lives in Paris after terrorist targeted various spots through the city, the Marist community worried about our own 24 students who are currently studying abroad in Paris. As families and students felt the panic of worrying about their loved ones, the students in Paris tried to make sense of what had just happened. Continue reading
Each year, a large portion of the Marist College student body studies abroad in various countries across the world, ranging from Italy to South Africa to Australia. According to Marist Public Affairs, “the college ranks 13th in undergraduate participation in studying abroad among Master’s degree-granting institutions, 18th in terms of total students studying abroad, 6th for participation in semester programs, and 3rd for the number of students participating in long-term study abroad programs.”
According to President Dennis Murray, the May 2015 graduating class had nearly 75% of their students study abroad somewhere during their time at Marist. The Marist program in Florence, Italy, at the Lorenzo de’Medici Institute is by far the most popular one among students. As a result, Marist International Programs (MIP) has the most expertise about the Florence program. This can come at a price, though.
One of the many things that make Marist’s Study Abroad Program stand out is the Freshman Florence Experience (FFE), in which students are offered the opportunity to spend their entire freshman year at the Marist-affiliated campus, Lorenzo de Medici, in Florence. An entire school year of delicious food, breathtaking views, and exploring one of the most beloved cities in Europe, what could go wrong?
The biggest issue amongst FFE students that seems to occur has nothing to do with their time in Florence, but rather, the reverse culture shock when they attend Marist for their sophomore year.
“Leaving Italy and having to adjust to Poughkeepsie was hard for us. You would think that the culture shock of going to Europe would be worse, but our group adapted so well,” said Morgan DeBaise, a current senior at Marist who participated in the FFE program. “Italy became our home, even the lifestyle became home to us.”
It was a only three weeks ago where Marist students were finalizing their applications to study abroad for the 2016 spring semester. Many students end up choosing to attend Marist because they boast a very strong study abroad program. With a variety of programs all over the world, most kids end up opting to study in Europe, with Florence and London being two very popular destinations. After some of my friends went abroad during the 2015 fall semester, I was interested to see what cities they explored.
For the first time the Florence campus will be offering courses for sports communication majors. Now students can go to Lorenzo de’ Medici, the campus in Florence Italy, and fulfill their sports communication requirements at the same time. The campus in Florence has been offering one sports course for a few years now which is Sport, Culture, and Communication.
Florence, Italy
Imagine beginning college in a foreign country. To be more specific, imagine spending all of freshman year in Florence, Italy. After spending sophomore year in the United States you decide to study abroad again, but this time in a different country for a semester during junior year.
For a select group of freshman at Marist College, that scenario is very possible. Marist strongly supports the idea of studying abroad as it currently provides over 30 different programs all over the world. However, freshmen have an opportunity to explore Europe during their first year with the college by studying in Florence, Italy.
The adventure does not have to end after freshman year. With proper planning and a compatible major, students who spend their first two semesters in Florence can study abroad later on in their academic career.
That was the case for Marist students Brennan Weiss and Colin D’Amelio.
Imagine showing up to campus on the first day of the new semester, bags packed and parents beaming proud, only to realize that you didn’t have a place to live for the next four months.
This is a potential scenario for students if they are not savvy in planning out their housing arrangements for when they return from a semester abroad.
It happens every year, somebody goes abroad without having guaranteed housing for when they return, the off campus house search is started very late, and then there’s the dilemma of potentially not having anywhere to live next semester.
In order to properly prepare for having a place to live students need to understand the difficulty of preparing exact numbers of available on campus housing spots. Sarah English, Director of Housing & Residential Life, explained the near impossibility of predicting how many rooms will be available for on-campus housing from semester to semester. Continue reading
