Name: Giavanna Williams ’25
Major: Film Studies
Semester Abroad: Fall 2023
What was your most valuable experience abroad? My most unforgettable experience was my internship abroad! I was able to teach English to first graders at Altair Colegio Internacional in Madrid. It taught me so many valuable lessons, along with opening my eyes up to the world of foreign language exchange. I never thought I would enjoy teaching children so much, and it filled my days with so much happiness and laughter. Being able to teach and see the beneficial changes I made within kids’ English made my days so much better.
Contact: gjwillia@syr.edu
Topics I’m comfortable discussing: Staying in touch with friends & family, Adjusting to a foreign language, Allergies & dietary needs, Cultural Immersion, Culture shock / Homesickness, Financing study away, First time abroad, Fitting study abroad into your home campus experience, Health, safety, and support, Living with a host family, Preparing for departure, Race & Ethnicity, Selecting a program option
Name: Talia St. Angelo ’25
Major: Marketing and Finance
Semester Abroad: Fall 2023
What was your most valuable experience abroad? My most valuable experience in my hose country was hands down living with my host mom. Going abroad it’s very easy to miss that sense of home and spending time with your family. By having my host mom to come home to every day, a room for all of my things, and someone there who genuinely cared about my well being, it made being away for the semester that much easier. We would always sit down for dinner and talk about our days, my travel plans, and overall ambitions for life. I knew a host family would be a culturally enriching experience, but it ended up being much more than that. I left abroad with tears in my eyes leaving someone who was so important to me and my growth. However, my host mom was one more reason for me to come back to Madrid one day and visit!
Study abroad advice: Do it. It is super easy to be intimidated traveling to a new place, but it’s just as scary going through college knowing you never tried for something that could change your life in the most amazing way. Going into my semester abroad I knew that I wanted to go, but I also sad to leave my friends, family, and organizations on campus. What I didn’t know was that I would end up meeting so many people from Syracuse I probably would never have met if I didn’t just go for it. I come back from abroad now with many more friends on campus, a huge appreciation for the Syracuse abroad staff, and hundreds of stories to tell. Everyone and everything you may be scared to leave will all be back here waiting for you, and you’ll have everyone you met along the way too!
Contact: tmstange@syr.edu
Topics I’m comfortable discussing: Staying in touch with friends & family, Adjusting to a foreign language, Cultural Immersion, Culture shock / Homesickness, Financing study away, First time abroad, Fitting study abroad into your home campus experience, Living with a host family, Meeting locals, Preparing for departure, Selecting a program option
Name: Claire Harrison ’25
Major: Magazine, News, and Digital Journalism, Political Science
Semester Abroad: Spring 2024
What would you say to a student undecided about studying abroad? I would tell them that the soft skills and self-discovery of going abroad are something I could not have gotten from anywhere else. I learned so much about myself by the end of the program that I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Beyond that, being abroad gives you something to talk about in job interviews and offers the opportunity to travel to lots of places for much cheaper than you would normally be able to.
Contact: charri39@syr.edu
Topics I’m comfortable discussing: Staying in touch with friends & family, Adjusting to a foreign language, Allergies & dietary needs, Cultural Immersion, Financing study away, Fitting study abroad into your home campus experience, Health, safety, and support, Living with a host family, Meeting locals, Preparing for departure, Selecting a program option
Name: Gustavo Madero Carriles ’26
Major: Political Science and Public Relations
Semester Abroad: Spring 2024
What advice would you give to a student studying abroad? My advice before going abroad would be to be intentional with your time there. Some believe that four months is a lot of time, but time actually goes by extremely fast when you are abroad, so when you are intentional with your time and make a bucket list of things you are trying to get out f your semester abroad such as (visiting new places, being more extroverted, doing things that scare me) you can quantify your time abroad based on how much of your goals you were able to accomplish. Seeing the bucket list I made while abroad, truly helped me hold myself accountable during the semester.
Contact: gamadero@syr.edu
Topics I’m comfortable discussing: Staying in touch with friends & family, Adjusting to a foreign language, Cultural Immersion, Culture shock / Homesickness, Financing study away, First time abroad, Fitting study abroad into your home campus experience, Living with a host family, Meeting locals, Preparing for departure, Religious life, Selecting a program option
Name: Ryan Scheiner ’25 G’26
Major: Economics BS/MA, International Relations BA, Sports Management minor
Semester Abroad: Spring 2024 (Summer 2023: Olympic Odyssey program)
What was your most valuable experience abroad? While it sounds cliche, the most valuable experience from my time abroad in Madrid has been living the Spanish culture. Whether that is eating tapas with friends, going to soccer games and cheering alongside the fans, eating dinner extremely late, spending time outside with friends and taking in the scenes of everyone else enjoying the outdoors, going to a bull fight, a flamenco show, and of course getting to use the Spanish language daily. Living with a host family has made the experience much more fruitful and authentic in my opinion as well as there is direct access to Spanish culture in the house every single day.
Contact: raschein@syr.edu
Topics I’m comfortable discussing: Staying in touch with friends & family, Adjusting to a foreign language, Cultural Immersion, Fitting study abroad into your home campus experience, Living with a host family, Meeting locals, Preparing for departure, Selecting a program option
Name: Josephine Seger ’25
Major: Anthropology and Forensic Science
Semester Abroad: Spring 2024 (Fall 2022: Discovery Florence)
What advice would you give to a student studying abroad? I’d recommend that they go to advising meetings with not only the Syracuse Abroad program advisor, but especially with they’re academic advisor. Their academic advisor can help them look at the course options abroad to see which one would fit their schedule and major best and still have them on track to graduate on time if that’s important to them. I’d also advise that they do their research about the country thoroughly before choosing. It’s important that they’re aware of different cultural norms, and the ways they’ll have to adapt to those and respect them. I’d advise that they look into all the options available to them, so they can customize their experience to one that would be best suited to them (in terms of location, duration and living situation).
Contact: jdseger@syr.edu
Topics I’m comfortable discussing: Preparing for departure, Adjusting to a foreign language, Culture shock / Homesickness, Financing study away, First time abroad, Fitting study abroad into your home campus experience, Health, safety, and support, LGBTQ+, Living with a host family