International Experiences

Shubhechha Dhar • Feb 9, 2018 •1:00 pm

Finding My Way in a New Place

When I first came to Arcadia in August last semester, I was full of enthusiasm. Everything was new, exciting, and also a little scary. I was super-pumped to experience life abroad. My friends and family from India were just as excited. They pictured me in a fairy-tale life. After...

Heidi Specht • Dec 4, 2017 •12:53 pm

Where in the World Are You Going?

¡Adios, Arcadia! Next semester I will be crossing off yet another item on my never-ending bucket list and studying abroad in Valparaiso, Chile. Valpo, as the locals call it, is a coastal city an hour north of Santiago. That’s right, I’ll get to see the Pacific Ocean for the first time...

Shubhechha Dhar • Dec 1, 2017 •11:15 am

A Messy Start, But On My Way

Piled-up laundry. Unwashed dishes. Messy dorm room. Sound familiar? Having come so far away (8,668 miles, to be exact) from my home and family, I knew that I would have to do things on my own at college. If I could travel all alone from India to Philadelphia, doing simple tasks and...

Shubhechha Dhar • Nov 3, 2017 •12:02 pm

Namaste, Konichiwa, Ni Hau, Xin Chào and Salaam!

I remember waving to my family from the other side of the departure gate at the airport with a wide range of emotions as I set to embark on my new college journey. Although I was thrilled at the opportunity of living in a new country, the reality of leaving home for four long months was...

Clifford Long • Nov 2, 2017 •10:37 am

See You. AU

I had my last big trip as an IPAL on April 16. I think I realized it sometime during the day that Saturday, while waiting in one of the ridiculously long lines for a ride at Hersheypark. With perfect weather and it being my friend and fellow IPAL leader Olayinka’s birthday, I only thought...

Heidi Specht • Oct 31, 2017 •3:07 pm

Making the Most out of FYSAE: Internships Abroad

Have you ever gotten that “study abroad letdown?” You know, the feeling that comes after the initial excitement of the first weeks has worn off, after orientation is over and you are back in your normal routine— except, you aren’t. While many people assume studying abroad is fun and...

Vea Ki-Tokelau Molitika • Oct 26, 2017 •3:37 pm

Identity, Diversity, and the Path to Better Education

The American diaspora has always been an unfamiliar territory that I have tried to maneuver since I was eight when we arrived from Tonga. My family and I settled in the Bay Area, a diverse place of mixed races and cultures. Yet when I moved to Pennsylvania for college, I felt a lot of alienation as...

Shubhechha Dhar • Oct 17, 2017 •9:32 am

Finally, the Classroom I’ve Always Wanted

Classroom. It used to be that when I heard the word “classroom,” I pictured students fighting to stay awake while the professor droned on, driving students into mind-numbing misery. Not anymore. My idea of a classroom changed when I transferred to Arcadia as a sophomore this...

Jessica Derr • Oct 16, 2017 •3:09 pm

Midnight Chicken Fingers, Changing Friendships, and More: Lessons from Freshman Year

Every year, without fail, when the fireflies begin to fade into blackness, when winds run cool, and the back-to-school advertisements hound my every waking hour, I am gripped by immense anxiety despite the fact that I am not going back to school, at least not in the traditional sense. [block3...

Hannah Faulkner • Apr 26, 2017 •8:00 pm

Robert Perry '20, Political Science Major on FYSAE

  As a senior in high school, I had no idea where I would end up for college. But if someone would have told me I’d be living in Scotland less than a year after graduation, there’s no way I would have believed them. My parents were a little confused when I told them my top...

Hannah Faulkner • Apr 13, 2017 •8:00 pm

Castles in the Sky(e)

A few weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to be allotted a space on Arcadia’s excursion to the Scottish Highlands and Isle of the Skye. The weekend started around 9 a.m. on Friday, when a few other FYSAE students and I were greeted by a coach full of students from London,...

Caitlin Joyce • Apr 10, 2017 •12:00 am

An Adventure Made in China

Coming to China, I had no idea what to expect, but I did have a 14-hour flight to ponder what might await me when the plane touched the pavement. The fact that in half a day I would be walking on the other side of the Earth was surreal to me.  On the flight, I thought about how in...