While most students spent winter break lounging around, watching television or working at the mall, other students opted for a more adventurous break. This break many students studied abroad in Vienna, Singapore and an International Biosphere Reserve sanctioned by the United Nations in Mexico.

The Study Abroad Office offered seven different programs over winter break, including Vienna, London, Barcelona, Singapore, Morelia, Bombay and two cities in West Africa.

After experimenting with programs during the 2003-2004 academic year, the Study Abroad Office decided to offer a larger winter program.

“The winter break programs, in particular, seem to fill a niche,” said Dale Gardner, Coordinator of Short-Term Programs, which coordinate the winter and summer study abroad programs.

Gardner said the winter break opportunities are perfect for students who can’t fit a semester abroad into their academic schedule or for those who started planning a trip late.

This break 150 students went abroad. Each trip offered a three-hour course titled LAS 199: The Global City – Diversity and Integration.

Each instructor put a different spin on the class. The potential faculty members tailored the class to their expertise, Gardner said.

In London, the program focused on history. In Singapore, the class explored linguistic communities. In Africa, the class examined art history.

Lauren Nagy, junior in education, spent break in London with her sister Lisa. Nagy decided to study abroad over winter break because it’s difficult to go abroad for a semester as an education major.

While in London, Nagy took a history course where students traveled through the city for each day’s lesson. The group went to the Museum of London, the Charles Dickens Museum and the House of Parliament.

“Seeing all the sights you see in movies and meeting people you’d never meet otherwise … It was amazing. I’m so glad I did it,” Hagy said.

Other students took a more ecological trip. Students in the NRES course, Field Study Along an Environmental Gradient in Northeastern Mexico, spent ten days studying ecological habitats.

Professor Anton Endress took his class to the U.N.-sanctioned biosphere reserve in Northeastern Mexico where they learned about the wide range of ecological habitats that organize at different levels of elevation. Besides ecology, students also learned about the people and culture of the area.

“Educationally, it (the trip) was for students to learn about where plants and animals are located, to make what they read in textbooks come alive. But it was also to learn about other cultures,” Endress said.

When you meet people different from yourself, it makes stereotypes disappear and makes everyone a little more relatable, he explained.

Endress said the trip was a joy for him as well as his students. Helping students broaden their horizons, teaching them, interacting with them was a real joy, he said.

Endress also thinks trips like this are important because it makes people think about the rest of the world, and not just the small community they live in.

“We all are enriched by going places where they do things differently,” he said.

Amanda Shevokas, senior in ACES, went to Mexico with Endress and said the trip was an amazing experience.

“It was really a one of a kind experience for me,” she said. “I formed a great bond with everyone I went with. It was amazing to connect with people you’d never expect. I think I’m going to really remember the connections I made.”