During the month of August, Quinnipiac students prepared for their move back to their home away from home. However, the entire QU community does not walk the quad this fall, instead some students are walking through the streets of different countries.
Studying abroad has taken some of our students to different universities for the semester. Among them is Michael Morano, a junior finance major from New Jersey. Morano is currently in London, England at Regents College.
Campus life for Morano at Regents College has been different than that at QU. He said that everyone on campus may recognize faces from class or from there residence building but may not know who they are. At Regents, despite being there for such a short time, Morano probably knows as much or even more students than at QU.
“There is only one dorm and all the buildings are connected. All the resident students get to know each other and become friends,” Morano said.
Last semester, QU students looked for ways to make the perfect schedule such as having days end early, night classes, or having no Friday classes. Study abroad students at Regents College don’t have to worry. The college does not offer Friday classes.
More than likely, QU students on campus do the same activities every weekend. Morano on the other hand, travels to different areas of Europe on his weekends.
“This past weekend I went to Milan and Bergamo (Italy) and had a great time,” Morano said. “Two weeks before, I went on a school sponsored trip to Leeds castle and Canterbury. This weekend I’m going on another school sponsored trip to Warwick castle and Stratford-Upon-Avon.”
Normally, when school starts the hopes of a long weekend or vacation are in the back of students’ minds. Distractions are always lurking around the corner for those on campus, from club meetings to partying in New Haven. Everything about Europe screams distraction for a study abroad student and awaiting these adventuress weekends makes studying abroad seem like more of vacation than college life.
For Morano, studying abroad has been an educational experience along with a vacation.
“I feel slightly distracted by my new setting, however it is very interesting,” Morano said. “Never before have I taken the London tube on a field trip to the Tower of London to see something like the Crown Jewels.”
“The teachers know we are here to study abroad and see London and Europe, so they are lenient to a point,” said Morano.
One of Morano’s professors even encouraged him to return to Milan to see a football (soccer) game before his return to the states.
While professors expect you to take your classes seriously whether it is at QU or during a study abroad, the majority of professors abroad seem to encourage students to experience and take advantage of their foreign and exciting surroundings and culture while abroad.
“If I could give advice to someone who might be interested, I would tell them to do it. Here, you become a part of the city in which you are living, and actually come close to becoming a local. My new friends and I have given directions so far to countless amounts of tourists and a few locals as well,” Morano said.
