{"id":20640,"date":"2014-08-12T16:26:45","date_gmt":"2014-08-12T20:26:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=20640"},"modified":"2025-07-11T13:50:19","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T17:50:19","slug":"seven-fantastic-reasons-to-go-on-an-emu-cross-cultural","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/seven-fantastic-reasons-to-go-on-an-emu-cross-cultural\/","title":{"rendered":"Seven fantastic reasons to go on an EMU cross-cultural"},"content":{"rendered":"

As\u00a0one of the top “study abroad” colleges in the U.S,<\/a> EMU is well-known for its emphasis on cross-cultural understanding and real-world experience. Students in our program travel with veteran faculty who are more than experts \u2013 they\u2019re mentors who veer off the beaten path and teach cross-cultural understanding.\u00a0Time after time, graduates say their cross-cultural trip was “life-changing.”<\/p>\n

The basics about cross-cultural<\/h3>\n

Each academic year EMU offers three or four semester-long cross-cultural programs to destinations all over the world.<\/strong> At some point during their time in college, slightly over half of all EMU students study overseas for a semester. Additionally, up to a half dozen three- to six-week programs are offered every summer.<\/p>\n

Between the two options, a large majority of students at EMU study abroad to fulfill its requirement for cross-cultural education, and the remainder have a supervised cross-cultural experience nearer to home. It\u2019s a distinctive, long-standing and wildly popular part of the curriculum.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe overwhelmingly hear from alumni that this is one of the best things that they did as an undergraduate because of the life experience and the self-understanding that they gain, the perspective [and] the language skills<\/strong>,\u201d says Linda Martin Burkholder<\/a>, assistant to cross-cultural programs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After surveying several dozen students recently returned from an overseas cross-cultural, we\u2019ve compiled a list of the most common reasons students look back on the experience as one of the best of their college years.<\/p>\n

1. Gain new self-confidence<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"EMU<\/a>
(Photo by Bethany Hench)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Getting from A to B in a strange place is part of every cross-cultural, and students find it\u2019s a fantastic way to build confidence in their abilities to navigate new life situations.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter riding many trains, planes, and automobiles \u2013 and one camel \u2013 I now have the confidence and know-how to travel by myself to just about any destination,\u201d says Emma King \u201915<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Nursing major Afton Vanderwarker \u201915<\/strong> says being \u201cable to function completely independently for the first time in my life on our week of free travel \u2026 showed me how much I’m capable of and that I really can go anywhere and do anything in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Horseback<\/a>
Students on the 2013 Honduras cross-cultural used horses to traverse the country terrain. (Photo by Bethany Crouse)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

2. Learn a language<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Many cross-culturals include formal language study as well as an immersion experience with another language. There\u2019s no better way to learn.<\/p>\n

\u201cI left knowing zero Spanish and returned able to speak enough to have conversations with host families and most people I met on the street,\u201d says Alex Witmer \u201915<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

3. Make new friendships from home that will last forever<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cI left the U.S. with a group of strangers and came back with a family,\u201d says Rebekah Graham \u201913.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Expect to form tight, long-lasting bonds with the other students in your group. Emma King \u201915<\/strong> explains why: \u201cThey were the ones who helped you carry your bag up a mountain. They ate the same sketchy looking soup with the unidentifiable green stuff in it that you did. They can now speak a foreign language just as badly as you can and laugh along with you when you accidentally ask a shop owner for a kiss rather than asking for their attention. They know all your embarrassing digestion stories. They are the people that know you at your best and at your worst.\u201d<\/p>\n

4. Form friendships abroad, gaining insights into the world<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cI am still in contact with people from Syria to Palestine that I met through home stays and our living experiences, as well as [having] connections with people from places such as Guam and Ukraine that I made during free travel,\u201d says Dan Nafziger<\/a> \u201913.<\/p>\n

Syria and Ukraine have been spending a lot of time in the international headlines lately; Nafziger\u2019s contacts there have given him greater understanding of the events putting those countries in the media spotlight.<\/p>\n

5. Expand your food horizons<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Chances are good you\u2019ll eat things you\u2019ve never heard of before (e.g., chocobananos), and maybe things you\u2019d never considered food before (e.g., chicken feet). And, chances are good, you\u2019ll be very glad you had the opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe street food which we were warned not to eat was the best food I’ve ever had in my life,\u201d says Vanderwarker. \u201cI’d fly back for street food.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"EMU's<\/a>
EMU’s fall 2014 cross-cultural to the Balkans, includes stays in Greece (pictured), Bulgaria and Turkey.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

6. Do things you couldn\u2019t possibly do at home<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Hike Spain\u2019s Camino de Santiago! Swim with sea lion pups! Tour the Colombian countryside by motorcycle! Students come back from their cross-cultural with memories to last a lifetime.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got to visit Hobbiton [movie set in New Zealand], which was the greatest day of my life,\u201d says Bonnie Fisher \u201914<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Kaitlin Heatwole \u201911<\/strong> spent her free-travel hiking a section of the Israel National Trail, hampered by a lack of English-language maps. The best one she and her friends could find wasn\u2019t great \u2013 imagine using a road atlas to hike the Appalachian Trail \u2013 and they did indeed go a bit astray. But gummy bear candy kept spirits high and they made it to the end intact, on time, and the better for it.<\/p>\n

7. Change your life forever, and for the better<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Talk to students who have been on a cross-cultural, and you\u2019ll hear some variation of this over and over:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis semester abroad marked one of the greatest times of my life \u2013 challenging, but beautiful,\u201d says Annie Dutcher \u201908<\/strong>. \u201cMy time in Guatemala and Mexico was completely life-altering in all the best ways. I credit EMU and this trip with opening my eyes to life outside of the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here are a few more take-aways:<\/h3>\n

\u201cEven now, almost 15 months after returning to the U.S., I continue to strive for that sense of profound engagement with the world around me that I felt while on cross-cultural, and struggle to find ways to step outside of comfortable American life.\u201d \u2013 Meg Smeltzer Miller \u201913<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI learned how to choose to be content in each and every situation, no matter how difficult.\u201d \u2013 Caitlyn Suttles \u201913<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt did make me more reflective and thoughtful in my daily life. I don’t go a day without thinking of Honduras and the struggles those people face each and everyday.\u201d \u2013 Patrick Campbell \u201912, MA \u201914<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you want to leave college feeling like you’ve learned something and changed who you are in the best ways, cross cultural is the path you want to take. It’s a struggle but every moment \u2013 the hours in language class, the weight gain, the homesickness \u2013 is totally worth every penny and drop of sweat.\u201d \u2013 Lani Prun\u00e9s \u201914<\/strong><\/p>\n

More info about cross-cultural<\/h3>\n

Learn more about cross-cultural study abroad at EMU on the program website<\/a>,\u00a0student blogs<\/a>\u00a0and our\u00a0flickr cross-cultural image feed<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As\u00a0one of the top “study abroad” colleges in the U.S, EMU is well-known for its emphasis on cross-cultural understanding and real-world experience. Students in our program travel with veteran faculty ... read more about Seven fantastic reasons to go on an EMU cross-cultural<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":21532,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4515,266,5583,5593,5623,4513],"tags":[13845,15288,11492,14635,15626],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-20640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-alumni","category-campus-community","category-intercultural","category-special-programs","category-student-life","tag-dan-nafziger","tag-emma-king","tag-kaitlin-heatwole","tag-lani-prunes","tag-linda-martin-burkholder"],"yoast_head":"\nSeven fantastic reasons to go on an EMU cross-cultural - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/seven-fantastic-reasons-to-go-on-an-emu-cross-cultural\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Seven fantastic reasons to go on an EMU cross-cultural - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As\u00a0one of the top “study abroad” colleges in the U.S, EMU is well-known for its emphasis on cross-cultural understanding and real-world experience. 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