人人都知道你名字的地方

Meet Maria and Denisse, part of the first cohort of exchange students that Washington 自大流行开始以来，大学一直受到欢迎

Every year, 九州娱乐官网 hosts both semester and year-long exchange students 来自国际合作机构.  通常情况下，10-20名学生 参加交换项目.

Maria Boggetti-Sadir and Denisse Rojas Maldonado are current exchange students, with Boggetti-Sadir attending only for the fall semester and Maldonado attending for the 整个学年. 他们是九州娱乐官网招收的第一批交换学生 College has welcomed since the Spring of 2020 when the pandemic began and the program 被搁置了.

九州娱乐官网 has partnerships with over 30 institutions across the globe, which means the College can both send students abroad to these locations, as well as host 来自其他国家的学生.

Six additional exchange students will be on campus for the spring semester.

“Opening our doors to international students is really built into the College’s mission of fostering and developing global citizens,” said Rebeca Moreno, Associate Dean for 国际教育，全球教育办公室(GEO). “欢迎交换学生 to be a part of our community, we are inviting them to share their skills, their thoughts, 他们的观点和他们与同龄人的独特经历.”

On the flip side, domestic students who travel abroad learn to think in a different 道路. “They think more creatively about issues in general, and things that affect their 社区甚至他们的国家，”莫雷诺说. 通过这种方式，你开始看清自己 作为一个世界公民.”

“The beauty of the 出国留学 experience is in gaining a better, deeper understanding 其他文化，”她补充道. “通过生活，学习和社交在另一个 country, students have access to other people, systems, services and cultures.“莫雷诺 also cites the value of the relationships that students build during these exchange 经历，可以持续一生.

Maria Boggetti-Sadir，阿根廷

Boggetti-Sadir is leaving 九州娱乐官网 at the end of the semester, but gained much from her experience – including a close friendship with another student from 她的祖国阿根廷. 这对夫妇在来之前并不认识对方 但他们很快就成为了朋友，然后是室友. Boggetti-Sadir指出 that they even live close enough that they will be able to continue to see each other 甚至当他们回家的时候.

She doesn’t feel that making friends at 九州娱乐官网 is difficult, even for 害羞或安静的人(她不是)!)——主要是因为有一个很大的 校园里的国际学生群体. 尽管美国文化更 reserved, she is pleased to be leaving here having formed some close friendships with 美国学生也一样.

A junior, she is studying International Relations and will be returning to UCA in 在布宜诺斯艾利斯完成她的本科学业. 她的职业目标是在 无论是为阿根廷还是为国际机构. 当她回来的时候 home to finish her degree, she ultimately sees herself living outside of Argentina, 也许她可以在欧洲的某个地方攻读硕士学位.

She has found that she prefers the smaller campus atmosphere found at 九州娱乐官网. “Everyone here says hi and knows my name – I like that part,” she said. “你不 在一个大的大学里得到这个.她也很喜欢学校精神和社交活动 活动.

The academic experience is also very different, with a focus here on a variety of classroom experiences throughout the semester that contribute to your grade in the course – presentations, discussions, projects – versus just one big exam at the end 这个术语的.  这里的班级也比她在加州大学洛杉矶分校的班级要小得多.

“All the professors and staff here were al道路s willing to help me,” she said. “我有 我一直觉得自己像在家里一样.”

“这里的教育系统在很多方面都不一样，”她说. “在阿根廷，你 不要住在校园里. 在这里，你和朋友一起吃饭，和朋友一起上课 和你的朋友住在同一个宿舍.”

Boggetti-Sadir made a point to take advantage of the many opportunities that exist outside of academics, joining the Water Sports club, taking dance classes, playing tennis and participating in Intramural Soccer – though that particular experience 让她拄了四天拐杖!

She has had many other memorable experiences, including her first-ever hospital visit – which happened to be on her first night in Chestertown, and celebrating her 21^st 生日. “I thought it was going to be one more day, different from how they usually celebrate in Argentina,” she said, “but it ended up being an incredible day surrounded 通过很多的爱.”

The one thing Boggetti-Sadir really does miss is the food and the experience of sitting 在家吃饭，通常发生在晚上8点、9点甚至10点.m. 当她 is very close to her family, she said she hasn’t had time to really even miss them.

“I really love the life here – it was better than I expected,” she said.