UWG Study Abroad Opportunity

By Emily Conklin

The Study Abroad program at UWG has plenty of options for those who crave travel but still want to complete school at the same time. Caroline Phelps is a Wolves Peer Advisor at UWG who is majoring in Spanish. Phelps had the opportunity to study abroad multiple times, including once in Costa Rica.

“I’ve studied abroad three times and now I am a semester ahead,” said Phelps. “It definitely keeps students on track, but most of the time is pushes them forward.” When studying abroad, there are not many requirements for those students who wish to apply. This allows many students the opportunity to study abroad if they wish to do so. 

“Generally, the main requirement is that you have completed your first fall and spring semesters of your freshman year,” said Phelps. “You cannot study abroad until your first summer semester, as you will need to complete some of your basic classes.”  

Along with students being afraid of falling behind when studying abroad, many are also discouraged that it will be too costly for what they can afford. Luckily for students, UWG has many scholarships set in place so that students can afford to explore the world.  

“Every student who studies abroad with West Georgia is guaranteed at least one scholarship from our office. It is the general Office of Education Abroad (OEA) scholarship,” said Phelps. “That application and scholarship are built into every study abroad application that students fill out, which ensures that every student will obtain at least one scholarship.” 

The programs that are offered through the UWG are also superior to others in the fact that they are usually all-inclusive. The only thing that differs is for those who decide to be exchange students and go away for an entire semester or a year rather than just for a couple of months or weeks.  

“It always covers that roundtrip airfare, housing in the country, most of your meals, transportation in the country, travel and medical insurance,” said Phelps. “A lot of times, especially for the summer semesters, it will cover the school supplies for that class.” 

Some students are also hesitant to study abroad as they are fearful that they will not make any friends and not know anyone. Students stray away from studying abroad as they will not have the ability to see their family members often as they do now, but they do not have to fear that as they will not be alone.  

“For the summer programs, you always go with students and professors. There are usually two professors that go on each trip,” said Phelps. “As for living with a host family, that depends on the program. Some countries and programs do offer a host family stay, others you stay in an apartment or a hotel, but it is usually a hotel if it is a 1 or a 2-week program.”