Elizabethtown College’s Study Abroad Office recently launched a podcast which features interviews with Etown students and alumni who have studied abroad. The show will discuss their experiences, difficulties faced while abroad, how the experience changed them, and advice they have for other students going abroad. It will also feature panels that will discuss more specific topics like the experience of studying abroad as a first-generation college student.

Samantha Seely, a senior Mass Communications and German dual major, started the podcast as her Communication Capstone. Seely works as the Student Outreach Coordinator for the Study Abroad Office where she creates Instagram content, helps with events, and now hosts the Etown Abroad Podcast.

“As an outreach coordinator, I felt that what we posted on the Instagram only scratched the surface of what makes studying abroad a good experience — it’s hard to capture what makes study abroad meaningful in a single photo,” she said. “I wanted to make space for deeper conversations about what it’s like to study abroad, how that experience can challenge and change you, what you learn by going abroad. I thought that starting a podcast for the Study Abroad Office would be a great way to make the space for those genuine and meaningful conversations.”

Seely hopes that the podcast will help Etown students better prepare for studying abroad and help them make the most of their time abroad.

You can listen to the first two episodes of the podcast by searching for the “Etown Abroad Podcast” on Anchor.fm, Spotify, or Google Podcasts.

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The Study Abroad Office provides guidance and support to students in all majors who want to study abroad on a semester, year, summer, winter, or faculty-led program. While abroad, students have the opportunity to take classes at a local university, intern at businesses within the community, and/or volunteer at various regional organizations.