My name is Marcus Smith and I had the wonderful opportunity to spend the spring 2016 semester in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was without a doubt the best 5 months of my life, and gave me the chance to grow intellectually, emotionally, and culturally. That being said though, I did have several concerns before my departure, and a majority of them had to do with how my identity as a black male would be received over there.

Aubree Compton, senior study abroad advisor and program coordinator at the University of Iowa, recently received her professional certification in education abroad. She is the first individual to successfully complete the program in Iowa, the Big Ten conference, and 19th overall.

We're excited to announce our Study Abroad Bloggers for the fall 2016 semester! These unique individuals were selected from a competitive pool of writers to tell the story of their destination and represent the voice of University of Iowa students while abroad. Throughout the semester, these students will share their experiences through writing and photography to be published weekly here on International Accents. 

When I first arrived in Florence, I knew that I wanted to be able to give back to the community in some way, I just wasn’t sure how. Lucky for me, my answer came quickly. My college informed us that they were offering the opportunity to volunteer at an Elementary school helping teach English.

Traveling to Pondicherry with the 2016 India Winterm Program was my first trip abroad and the experiences I had over the three weeks I was there were life changing. I enrolled in the course Serving Children with Disabilities, Empowering Local Women, Assisting Older Adults (SEA). My enrollment in this course provided me with the opportunity to volunteer with nonprofit organizations in the area, attend lectures with guest speakers, and visit ancient temples and other cultural sites. I volunteered at SARVAM, an after school program created by the Sri Aurobindo Society that works to advance the educational attainment of children in rural areas.