2011-12 Student Photo Essays

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I had the amazing opportunity to study abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark, for my junior year at the Danish Institute for Study Abroad (DIS). I participated in the multicultural child development program. This picture is taken on my first day exploring Copenhagen with my new Canadian roommate, Toria.

One of the best parts of studying at DIS is the incorporation of study tours into each semester. For fall 2010, my Multicultural Child Development class went on a study tour of London. This picture is of us inside the London Tube metro station.

DIS also offers a travel break during each semester in addition to the study tour that the whole class goes on. The travel break offers time for students to travel independently, but group trips are also offered. I chose to go on a DIS-sponsored group surfing trip to Portugal. The awesome thing about traveling with DIS is that once you pay the set amount, traveling, food, accommodations, and other expenses, such as surfing lessons, are all taken care of! So there is no worrying, only fun!

Once fall semester ended in December, I had a month before spring semester started in January. While many full-year students chose to go home to the U.S. during this time, I decided to stay in Europe and take the train to multiple countries. This picture was taken in Bern, Switzerland. It is as cold as it looks (and just as pretty).

After Switzerland, I headed to Italy where I spent the last days of December 2010 traveling to marvelous cities such as Florence and Rome before ending in Venice for New Year's Eve. This is a picture of the New Year's 2011 fireworks exploding over the canals in Venice, Italy.

Back in Denmark after an awesome month of traveling, the beginning of spring semester 2011 brought a new class and a new course: Special Needs Child Development. In this picture, our class went on a field trip to a sensory center for blind children, where ball pits such as the one we are sitting in and other environmental stimuli are used to work with sense-deprived children and young adults.

Other than the travel-break tours and study tours, DIS also offers educational 1- or 3-unit courses that involve a course combined with a trip. During spring semester, I participated in the Classical Music of Vienna course. Not only did I learn about classical music, I got to experience a real Viennese opera, and see the classiest European city alive with music!

The spring semester 2011 Special Needs Child Development program's study tour was to Tallin, Estonia, and Stockholm, Sweden. This picture is of us on a cruise ship through the Baltic sea from Tallin to Stockholm.

During spring semester 2011, I became very integrated with the Danes because I lived in an all-Danish dorm. DIS offers many different types of housing, from "kollegiums" (dorms), such as this one, to living with Danish roommates, to living with a host family. This picture is of me and my Danish dorm-mates dressed up for a "Latin-themed" party.

For my spring semester travel break (spring break) I traveled independently to Greece, where I visited many of the Greek Islands. This picture is of me on the island of Santorini.

Leaving Denmark and DIS after two amazing semesters was one of the hardest things I had to do. The friendships will be lifelong, and the knowledge and memories never forgotten.