Winter study abroad programs come with a number of benefits.

UI students who are interested in field-based research projects abroad are invited to attend an information session with SIT Study Abroad on Monday, October 1, 3:30 p.m. in room N171 College of Public Health Building (CPHB).

Would you like to study abroad during your time at the University of Iowa, but don't know where to start? Attend one of our weekly Discover Study Abroad information session to learn how study abroad works and find the right international opportunity for you!  

When I look back on my college career later in life, I know I can reflect on my study abroad trip as a truly life-changing time period filled with extreme personal growth.

by Jonathan Moed, Forbes. In my time traveling around the world to learn about global startup ecosystems, I have been struck by the quantity and quality of successful businesses I’ve come across whose origin story started with members of its founding team studying or working abroad, and in some cases, whose business model was directly inspired by experiences that occurred during a founder’s time abroad. I set out to uncover what’s behind this trend, and how going abroad can impact business creation and development. Here’s what I’ve learned, including examples of high-growth startups I have encountered throughout my travels.

My name is Taylor Wertheim. I am a senior at the University of Iowa majoring in Italian, International Studies: East Track, and minoring in Korean. This year I decided to take a big leap outside of my comfort zone and study abroad in Seoul, South Korea.

Anibal Mares Marquez talks about his experience studying abroad in Italy with the CIMBA program.

Nearly 70 University of Iowa students completed summer internships in their fields of interest. Impressive to be sure, but even more notable is the fact they completed these internships abroad—allowing them to not only gain relevant, global experience, but also to strengthen their intercultural communication skills, build confidence and adaptability, and in many cases, become more proficient in a foreign language. These internships were coordinated through the Institute for the International Education of Students (IES). IES is the international internship provider for the UI and the partnership has seen tremendous success, growing over 40 percent from the first summer in 2016 to the summer of 2018.

Hundreds of University of Iowa students spent their summer completing internships in their chosen fields of interest. However, a smaller group of nearly 70 took their experiences to the next level by completing internships abroad—allowing them to gain relevant, global experience while strengthening their intercultural communication skills, building confidence and adaptability, and becoming more proficient in a second language. Internships abroad are coordinated through IES Internships, a unit of the Institute for the International Education of Students (IES Abroad). IES Abroad is the international internship provider for the UI; student participation in the partnership has grown more than 40 percent since summer in 2016. This past summer, 69 UI students interned in 11 cities around the world through IES Internships.

A marketing and public relations internship with a small start-up company in Paris translated to work experiences that extend beyond typical “intern” duties for Taylor Odekirk, a marketing and journalism student from Waterloo, Iowa. Odekirk worked at Archive Valley, an online platform that connects people with archive resources from around the world. “A highlight of my internship was researching for the launch of Archive Valley’s public relations campaign,” said Odekirk.  She found journalists, news outlets, magazines, and blogs that reach Archive Valley’s target audience of documentary filmmakers and content creators. She also had the opportunity to work with a freelance PR professional who helped her create story pitches and a press release to be used in the campaign.

Did my journey start out perfectly? Absolutely not. Would I change how it started? Absolutely not - the story is way too funny.

I didn’t want my semester abroad to end. But really, study abroad doesn’t quite finish when you board that plane back to the States—for one thing, there’s the new you, then there’s all the memories, and finally, there’s that suitcase to unpack.