As international relations become progressively more strained under the new administration, I am increasingly grateful that I had the opportunity to study abroad and travel when I did. In 2024, I stayed in or sojourned through a total of seven different European nations, and my intercontinental journey started in Transylvania’s Office of Global and Intercultural Engagement. As I participate in a global engagements course designed to help returning students process and learn from their time abroad, I find myself reflecting on my experiences and wishing more people could share those experiences. I sat down with Rachel Wilson, Transylvania’s Study Abroad coordinator, and asked her what she’d like the student body to know about studying abroad with Transy.
Wilson says her main goal is simply getting students through the door in Old Morrison. “The vast majority of students would be open to the idea but wouldn’t proactively seek out the opportunity,” she explains. While there are plenty of standard May Term study abroad courses like ‘Lights, Cameras, Anime,” an art-focused class in Japan led by Kurt Gohde and Wei Lin, the Office of Global and Intercultural Engagement helps students tailor a specially crafted experience all their own. The first questions Wilson asks are “What are you hoping to get out of this experience? How can we help you achieve that?”
Transylvania University makes it easy to get abroad. Alongside taking free passport photos for students, there are many scholarships available, and no semester abroad (including airfare) will ever cost more than a semester at Transy. Students still earn academic credit, so it’s easy to work towards a major (or minors!) while abroad.
When asked about the value of studying abroad, Wilson immediately answered “It’s about experiencing the world in a different way. It’s about breaking the bubble. Eighty percent of Transylvania students are native to Kentucky.” She explains how spending time in another country fights against a singular worldview. “You learn to adjust your perspective of ‘normal.’ Sometimes we don’t even consider that things can be done differently.”
Wilson emphasized the idea of travel as education. “You have to trust in the good of others,” she says. To her, studying abroad is all about asking for help, figuring out new routines, and thriving in the unfamiliar, saying, “You never know where each day will take you.” She recounted a story of a Spanish student recognizing the subjunctive form on a street sign. “You don’t get that in Carpenter.” Wilson reiterated that no amount of book learning can fully prepare you for a lived experience.
The transformative aspect of studying abroad cannot be overstated. At the risk of sounding pretentious, I can divide my college experience by pre- and post-Ireland. I had been overseas prior, but I never got the opportunity to put down roots – to experience the place as a resident rather than a tourist. Living in a new city for a whole semester an ocean apart from any familiar faces was daunting, but it really helped me discover myself as an individual. In the words of Isa Slaughter, a senior at Transy who studied abroad her sophomore year, “Yes, I am a different person after studying abroad. A piece of me will always be in London, I think. It was the first time I had ever existed as just myself, no people or places tied to my identity. It was as terrifying as it was liberating. I carved out space for myself in that city and in doing so I carved out space for myself in my own body. I am so much more me now than I was before.” Like Isa, I’ve kept in contact with many of the friends I made abroad, and across time zones and an ocean, a piece of Ireland is always with me.
I encourage everyone to consider taking a semester or even a break abroad. The deadline for Fall 2025 has already passed, but applications for the Winter term of 2026 are accepted until May 15, 2025. The Office of Global and Intercultural Engagement is located on the first floor of Old Morrison and you can email Rachel Wilson directly at rawilson@transy.edu. Learning more about other ways of life is crucial to personal growth and interpersonal communication. Break out of your comfort zone and ramble wherever your heart may lead you.
