Study Abroad - Global Ambassadors
Global Ambassadors
Study Abroad
Global Ambassadors are a valuable resource for students who are researching study abroad programs. Global Ambassadors are current Salve Regina students who've completed one of the University's approved study abroad programs. They are happy to share their experiences and answer questions. It's a great way to get the student perspective and ask questions that only those who've been there can answer.
Danielle Abril
Major: Elementary and special education, minor in Spanish
Study abroad location: Sevilla, Spain. Spanish Studies Abroad: Spring 2023
What was the most meaningful experience you had abroad?
Forming relationships with my host parents and community, learning Spanish and challenging myself in a different language.
What do you wish more people knew about the study abroad experience?
Everyone's experience is different and studying abroad is what you make it.
Why do you think Salve Regina students should study abroad?
To take advantage of a travel experience and adapting to a new culture and place. To learn more information about the world around us.
Isabella Ares
Major: Biology
Study abroad location: Rome, Italy. American University of Rome: Spring 2023
What was the most meaningful experience you had abroad?
One of my most meaningful experiences was volunteering with ASCS: Scalabrinian Agency for Development Cooperation at Casa Scalabrini. This is a housing and community support project based in Rome that takes in up to 30 refugees at a time. They promote autonomy and integration, and provide a welcoming environment for refugees. I volunteered in a neighborhood cleanup alongside the refugees and got to hear their stories, which was eye-opening and rewarding.
What do you wish more people knew about the study abroad experience?
I wish people knew that studying abroad is unique to each individual. There is no "right way" to do it. You get to forge your own path. You don't have to visit a new country every weekend, make sure to explore the city you are living in.
Why do you think Salve Regina students should study abroad?
Salve students should study abroad to gain perspective on the world and other cultures. Here in Newport, we have a very specific culture. It's important to be able to work with and understand people from other cultures, and studying abroad is an amazing way to help develop a global mindset.
Kayla Brundage
Major: Psychology, minor in criminal justice and criminology
Study abroad location: Sippy Downs, Australia. University of the Sunshine Coast: Fall 2023
What was the most meaningful experience you had abroad?
I was taking a class about indigenous Australia and there was a woman who was taking the class to educate herself further about her children as they were half indigenous. This was memorable because the classes I was enrolled in were so diverse in age and it was amazing to hear this woman's story about what her education means to her. Not only was I gaining alternative perspectives on culture and ways of living, but alternative perspectives on the value of education in another country as well.
What do you wish more people knew about the study abroad experience?
This is an opportunity you will never have again in your life. Visiting a country for a vacation is one thing, but being able to live as a local for 4-6 months is surreal. The people you meet and the friendships you make while you're abroad are lifelong because this experience is once in a lifetime.
Why do you think Salve Regina students should study abroad?
Salve Regina students should study abroad because of how easy it is. There is a program for everyone, and the staff are all so helpful and organized that the process was seamless. Everyone in the office was helpful and supportive every step of the way and made an otherwise overwhelming leap of faith seem simple, easy and straightforward.
Francis "Frankie" DeSario
Major: Finance
Study abroad location: Rome, Italy. American University of Rome: Spring 2023
What was the most meaningful experience you had abroad?
Becoming part of a community which I was entirely foreign to and learning the basics of the Italian language along the way. While this is a generalized experience, this was the most meaningful experience to me.
What do you wish more people knew about the study abroad experience?
I wish they would be able to understand the intensity of the differences which are present when studying abroad. The way of life is completely different, including cultural norms and values -- this could be immensely difficult to deal with. It is vital to understand that you will have to mold your daily life around these changes, which is part of the experience. It is a beautiful thing, and you will have to "fake it till you make it" in the beginning -- all of the bumps in the road are entirely worth it.
Why do you think Salve Regina students should study abroad?
Simply, it is the greatest call to adventure a student in modern times can pursue. The experiences you will have, people you will meet, confidence you will build and things you will learn -- is unmatched to anything you will ever learn within the classroom.
Sarah Kraus
Major: History, minor in cultural and historic preservation
Study abroad location: Cork, Ireland. University College Cork: Fall 2022
What was the most meaningful experience you had abroad?
I was fortunate to have the opportunity to meet my extended family in County Mayo, Ireland. It was incredible to see where my family came from and to learn about my heritage.
What do you wish more people knew about the study abroad experience?
It is one of the most fulfilling learning experiences you can possibly have. Not only do you learn a great deal about your host country and the world in general, but you learn so much about yourself as well.
Why do you think Salve Regina students should study abroad?
Studying abroad is an incredible way to broaden your horizons and make your world seem a bit smaller. Being able to connect with your peers from around the world is such an enriching experience and I would highly recommend it.
Avalon Morris
Major: Biology, minor in neuroscience
Study abroad location: Amsterdam, Netherlands. Vrije Universiteit: Spring 2023
What was the most meaningful experience you had abroad?
Aside from the constant experience of understanding other cultures, hearing people that I met abroad tell me how I changed their lives was very memorable.
What do you wish more people knew about the study abroad experience?
There is plenty of culture shock and feelings of being uncomfortable or not belonging, but at the end of the day, people are people, and no matter the country you can connect and find ways to get by through the underlying human connection.
Why do you think Salve Regina students should study abroad?
There are many options to choose from and it was very easy to work out the process of going abroad.
Hannah Rezendes
Major: Psychology and dance
Study abroad location: Florence, Italy. API Lorenzo de’ Medici: Fall 2023
What was the most meaningful experience you had abroad?
The most meaningful experience I had abroad was becoming friends with locals who owned a cafe/restaurant. My friends and I went there for dinner our first week abroad and I knew from the moment I walked in it was going to be a special place in our lives. We went there for breakfast every morning and would stop by for drinks at night (it was a 1-minute walk from my apartment which was great!). Going there became a tradition and helped Florence feel like home for me. On the last day, my friends and I gave the owners flowers, a card, and a picture of us outside their restaurant. A few hours later, our picture was hung up on their wall. In that moment I knew Florence had become such a special place in my life. I still keep in touch with them online and my friends and I are planning to go visit Florence again and stay at their apartments!! Ricordi was the name of the cafe/restaurant, and the translation of Ricordi is memories, which makes it even more fitting that Ricordi was the most meaningful and memorable experience of my time abroad.
What do you wish more people knew about the study abroad experience?
I wish people knew how beautiful and rewarding the study-abroad experience was, but honestly, I believe that a person cannot truly understand how the study-abroad experience will change their life until they experience it firsthand. You can show people pictures, tell them every single story, and Facetime them in, but until they get to live in a foreign country and adjust to a whole new lifestyle, they won't be able to fully wrap their heads around it. So I would want people to know that the study abroad experience is everything they are imagining/hoping for and more. There will obviously be challenges that one will have to experience when they are abroad, but overcoming those challenges is even more rewarding when you are abroad. All in all, I want people to know that it will be the best time of their life.
Why do you think Salve Regina students should study abroad?
Salve Regina is a great school that offers so many incredible opportunities to its students, but I also think it is very important to go explore life beyond Newport. There is SO much more to this world and going abroad is a once and a lifetime opportunity. I have become a new person since going abroad. I am more independent, more confident, more dedicated, and more present in my everyday life. Those are lessons that I will carry with me for the rest of my life, including the rest of my time here at Salve. Being away from Salve also made me appreciate the beauty, lively campus, and community we have here.
Madison Rezendes
Major: Psychology and music
Study abroad location: Florence, Italy. API Lorenzo de’ Medici: Fall 2023
What was the most meaningful experience you had abroad?
Making connections and relationships with the locals on our street in Florence was so special and meaningful. It was memorable and so special to me because it made me feel like I had officially immersed myself into the community and had found a new home!
What do you wish more people knew about the study abroad experience?
The city you live and study in truly becomes your home and a piece of you is left there when you leave to go back to the states. It is unlike any experience anybody will ever get to do being so young in another country and getting to learn and grow with old friends and new friends you make along the way!
Why do you think Salve Regina students should study abroad?
Since our campus is so small, sometimes it is hard to find new experiences and get out of your comfort zone, so going abroad really helps you learn and grow.
Aoife Rouse
Major: History and secondary education
Study abroad location: Prague, Czech Republic. CEA CAPA Prague: Spring 2022
What was the most meaningful experience you had abroad?
I did not realize how close I would become with the friends I met in class at university and through my CEA program. I went to Prague not knowing a single person and am walking away with lifelong friends. My friends from study abroad and I have traveled the world and been there for each other in times when you are vulnerable and in another country alone. I never would have thought that the friendships I would make would be so close but I think that having friends from around the country and the world is such a valuable aspect of study abroad. The memories that the five of us shared are countless and will stay with me forever. I would encourage other people to make connections and fully throw themselves into getting to know the people they meet as they travel.
What do you wish more people knew about the study abroad experience?
How fast it goes! I feel like I finished my application, got my visa and by the time I was sitting on the plane to go I had a "this is really happening" moment. Being there for four months was the longest I have been away from home. I was worried about missing my family and just daily life without American luxuries. However, once you get there, you are immersed in a new culture that's totally different than the one you have experienced before. I was so glad I was there for four months because if I hadn't been there so long, I wouldn't have been able to have the feel for the city that I had. I became a regular at the cafe down the street, the florist on the corner knew I would get flowers for weeks when we weren't traveling, and I could get anywhere on the city using a combination of any or all three forms of public transit. All these things are experiences that seem mundane but they are things that really make you feel like you are living in another country.
Why do you think Salve Regina students should study abroad?
People should know that they are never going to have the opportunity to study abroad like when they are studying in college. Being able to experience a new country while being able to take classes in a new environment and teaching style is such a cool thing. College is a time for exploring and being able to enter an environment so different and for a period of time where you truly begin to feel like a local is so special. The saddest part of study abroad is the ending because you know you have experienced a once in a lifetime opportunity. I think applications for programs, visas and the logistics can sometimes scare people from studying abroad but even though there are some applications it is so worth it. Salve Regina has great resources and it was not a crazy process, especially with support so I really think that there is no reason not to study abroad.
Madeline Walent
Major: Studio art (concentration in illustration), minor in art history
Study abroad location: Oxford, England. St. Clare’s (Oxford): Spring 2023
What was the most meaningful experience you had abroad?
While I was in England, I turned 20, and my friends went out of their way to make my birthday special. It made me realize that even though I had only met these people a few months ago, they were going to be in my life for a very long time. We are connected by this shared experience that not everyone has the privilege of encountering. The people I met while studying abroad are by far the most incredible part of my time there and I wouldn't change a single thing.
What do you wish more people knew about the study abroad experience?
Put fear aside. The best things are on the other side of fear. Before you embark on your semester abroad, everyone around you is going to tell you that it will change your life. Personally, I was skeptical of the dramatic language being used around the experience and I was scared to leave my home and family. Fear is normal and human, but we can't let that stop us because studying abroad will absolutely change you in all the best ways. It expands your worldview and gives you relationships that you won't find here in the United States. The more you put into your experience, the more you will get out. Say yes to as many trips and adventures as you can while you're there. Jump out of your comfort zone as much as possible.
Why do you think Salve Regina students should study abroad?
As Salve Regina students, we are blessed with the opportunity to go abroad. If you are able to take advantage of this, do it! Again, don't let fear bar you from something as incredible as this.