Cam Copeland ’16
Global Studies Major / Managerial Economics Minor
Colby in Dijon, France (Fall 2012)
CIEE Central European Studies Prague, Czech Republic
(Fall 2015)
Before I received the information about Colby in Dijon in the middle of my senior year of high school, I honestly couldn’t have imagined when, to where, and for what purpose my first airplane flight would be. I never really had my eyes set anywhere further than Boston, which has always been easily accessible by train. Anyway, I had a sort of epiphany that I needed to take advantage of this 
opportunity that Colby had to offer in order to broaden my view on the world and to grow. It took about five minutes of conversation with my parents before I emailed Colby to determine if I could forego going to the Waterville campus in the fall and go to Dijon instead. Long story short, everything worked out (barely) and I had the best four months of my life. I could talk about my experience for hours, but what I want to focus on here is what’s in the title: studying abroad a second time.
I would love to do one of those cool Buzzfeed-esque, “X Number of Reasons Why FSA Students Should Study Abroad Again,” but unfortunately I am neither creative nor patient enough to actually execute that. What I will do, though, is focus on the three reasons that I see as primary.
People With Whom You Study
One of the best features of the First Semester Abroad programs is that you are thrown into a predominantly French or Spanish speaking city with fifteen or twenty people whom you have most likely never seen in your life. Being tossed into such an uncomfortable situation means making friends becomes quite simple and invaluable at an early point in your college career. There is no question that the friends I made in Dijon are some of my best to this day, but the perk of studying abroad a second time is the option of being able to choose where to go and with whom. For me, the choice was an easy one; I wanted to study abroad with my girlfriend. As a senior, I figured it would make for an incredible fall semester, and I was completely right. Whether it’s a significant other or best friend, studying abroad with that person means going on an unforgettable semester-long adventure where the world is in your hands.
Personal Growth
Let’s face it, first years are typically a bit more inexperienced than juniors and that’s all there is to it. Before this year, I didn’t think much about that, but I really awoke to this fact when I accompanied the current FSA students to Dijon for their first four days. The young faces, naiveté regarding college life, and hesitation when ordering their first drinks gave it away. My point here is that it is not easy to go abroad as a first year student, and there are many parts of my experience that I feel I could have done better, like saving money beforehand, for example. Despite leaving Dijon feeling like a totally new man (and no, not just because I gained 20 pounds), I wished that I had made better financial decisions prior to the trip so that I could have worried 
less about money on the trip; I wished I had chosen to be more of a “Yes” man when it came to going out instead of caring about my health, and I wish I had been more spontaneous. Upon reflection, though, I was just an ignorant, poor first year student who missed home and appreciated sleep too much.
Going abroad again meant that I had a second chance at all of these things. I saved enough money to be able to spend without thinking too long about it, and that has made all the difference. I guess it helps that a half-liter of beer is only a dollar fifty in Prague and that a full meal is only about six dollars. Moreover, I have made it a goal to be a “Yes” man this time around, and with that, to be spontaneous.
Regrets
I left France with some major regrets in December 2012. As I previously mentioned, I did not have a ton of money going to France, so travelling every possible weekend was far out of my budget, however in hindsight, I realized that I refrained from travelling too much. I said no to going to Oktoberfest, Barcelona, Switzerland, and even on a couple of day trips within France. Sure I may not have had enough money to go on all of those trips, but there is no doubt I could have gone on at least two.
Before even d
eciding where I was going to study this semester, the one thing about which I was absolutely certain was that I was going to travel as much as humanly possible. I saved up a lot of money, and may or m
ay not have even taken out a little bit extra in student loans, specifically to travel. So far we have been to Budapest, Bratislava, Vienna, Mikulov (a small village in Czech wine country), Oktoberfest (Munich), and Amsterdam, and we still have Paris, Dijon, Milan, Riomaggiore, and Dresden left before we return to the states. Walking along the streets of all these different cities in various countries is the most incredible, surreal experience I have ever had, and I would have never been able to have them had I not studied abroad again.
There are numerous other reasons that studying abroad a second time is a fantastic idea, but it’s 12:38am and writing anything else may just kill me. Finally, I will end by recognizing that everyone has a different study abroad experience, and sometimes a semester in Salamanca or Dijon is already more than enough, so be sure to base your decision to study abroad a second time on what’s best for YOU.
