From snorkeling off the coast of New Zealand to sharing tapas in Seville to biking through Bologna, Cornell students are finding that studying abroad offers more than just credits — it offers perspective.
At Cornell, students across any major and college may pursue the opportunity to study abroad. The Office of Global Learning offers over 75 programs across five continents — even at sea — with short-term, semester and year-long options.
There are many reasons why students may choose to study abroad. Rowan Lopez ’26, who studied at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, says he decided to study abroad to “get more of a global perspective.”
Studying in New Zealand gave Lopez “hands-on experience in marine [biology].” Lopez explained that there were separate professors for each niche topic. “Every new topic, a new professor would come in and teach you … one professor for specifically sponges, and then one professor for anemones,” Lopez said. The program also let Lopez explore Māori — the indigenous people of New Zealand — studies, taught by members of the community themselves.
Alex Judd ’26, studying food science, studied with the Consortium for Advanced Studies Abroad Sevilla in Spain. In addition to language immersion, Judd was also motivated to study abroad by family tradition. Both his sister and father studied abroad in Madrid.
“My dad still has friends from when he was a student in Madrid back in the 80s, and that he still keeps in contact with,” he said. “Since I started learning Spanish in middle school, I've just really loved learning the language, and so I thought it's the best way to learn the language.”
Judd chose a program with a host family so he “would be able to immerse myself in the culture.” Living with a host family in Seville, Judd said his Spanish “improved exponentially.” He ate daily meals with them, celebrated local festivals, and even joined them at Feria, the city’s flamenco fair.
“I never would have been able to do that as a tourist. That was really special,” Judd said. “You're gonna miss it once you leave, so really try to get everything out of it.”
Miles Huh ’26, a government and economics major who studied at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea, told The Sun that his decision to study in Korea was a combination of family heritage and Cornell opportunity.
“I chose Korea because I'm half Korean,” Huh said. “Also because with the way Arts and Sciences is structured with the language requirement, it made it feel like it was worth taking two years of [Korean] if I was able to go abroad.”
While learning the language was a critical part of his experience, study abroad really gives you the opportunity to “understand how to live there,” Huh explained.
Huh recalled experiencing South Korea’s unique drinking culture, sharing “We did a lot of happy hours in my classes led by the professor.”
As an East Asian studies minor, Huh also found unique academic opportunities, including a graduate seminar on the North Korean diaspora. He even attended a program at the Demilitarized Zone where he met North Korean defectors.
“That was not an insight I would have ever had, had I not gone,” Huh said.
Tasos Stefanou ’26 works for the Lab of Ornithology as a researcher and studies Biological Sciences. They decided to study abroad in South Africa under the Organisation For Tropical Studies since they felt that the program was related to their career interests.
While day-to-day life while abroad varies greatly depending on the program, Stefanou was a part of a moving program in order to conduct field work across various locations in South Africa, so their accommodations changed frequently.
“It's definitely a bit more rugged at times. Sometimes with no heating or cooling,” Stefanou said. “They would say check your shoes for scorpions [and] we saw some really, deadly snakes in our backyard regularly.”
For students looking to study abroad, Stefanou recommends finding a program that aligns with the personal experience or goal behind studying abroad and that lines up with “your day-to-day life.”
Will Taylor ’26, studying classics and Italian, chose to study abroad at the University of Bologna through the Bologna Consortial Studies Program. Taylor, who had been studying Italian since high school, felt that Italy was a natural fit.
“As a classics major, obviously Italy is a pretty ideal place to study,” Taylor explained.
Taylor tried to immerse himself in the culture by biking to class and making coffee from an Italian kitchen appliance called a moka pot everyday. He also found that spending as much time in Bologna as possible, allowed him to make the most of his experience, despite the typical urge to constantly travel.
“When you actually live there, you have the time to develop relationships. You have the time to explore the city,” Taylor said.
Looking back, Taylor stressed the importance of keeping an open mind and taking advantage of such a rare opportunity.
“Just embrace the experience while you have it. Do everything that you possibly can – never say no,” Taylor said.
Mary Caitlin Cronin is a member of the Class of 2028 in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She is a staff writer for the News department and can be reached at mcronin@cornellsun.com.
