Opportunities studying abroad

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Studying abroad is not that difficult and expensive thing, but the rewards are plenty 

Sophie Long
News Writer

UR International is one of the University of Regina’s most active programs, but very few students are aware of the programs and options that the program offers. One of the biggest programs that UR International offers is the opportunity for students to travel while learning.

Ashley Sheppard worked at UR International and has studied abroad. She believes this is an opportunity that every student should take advantage of.

“I was doing regular student assistant stuff and I was occasionally going to different classrooms talking about the study abroad program,” Sheppard explained. “And it’s one thing to talk about it to advertise it, but it’s another thing to have actually done it. I’m currently doing a double major in international studies and Japanese, so that helped.”

For one semester, Sheppard was able to travel to Japan because it directly fit into her studies, but she insists that almost every student should be able to do a semester abroad. And, she said it is easier than it sounds. 

“The study abroad program, I think, has a bit of a rap for being difficult and expensive, and really hard to fit into your program,” she said. “When I was working in the office I was like ‘wow, it’s so easy.’ It’s so much more expensive to travel once you’re not a student.”

For students who are concerned about the cost of traveling, Sheppard shed a little insight about her experience.

“Every student who wants to study abroad gets an automatic $1,000 scholarship,” she said. “When I was in Japan, they offer a living allowance for students, and they actually sponsor North American students to come to the university, and so I ended up [spending] almost no money.”

Another concern students may have when traveling abroad is that the time they spend overseas will not count towards their degree. Sheppard says that is simply not true.


“You go for the cultural experience. We don’t want you to sit inside worrying about getting a 99 per cent in your class. You should meet the locals. And it gives you that competitive edge when you’re applying for jobs once you’re done your degree.” – Ashley Sheppard


“[You] get credits for the program, which is something I was worried about. I was wondering if I would have to take another year, and what actually happened was I got 18 credit hours.”

For students who are interested in studying abroad, Sheppard suggests meeting with their program advisors to ensure that the classes they will take overseas will be accepted at the U of R before they travel.

“UR International has introduced some new things to make studying abroad more accessible.” She said. “We used to have tricky time for education students, but we have this new internship program. Everyone has to do an internship for education and we can have education students do their internship in so many places. Arts students [and] science students are easy. [For] business students, we have some schools in Australia and Scotland and we have some schools that are popular for engineering. It’s so easy.”

Sheppard says there are many other advantages of studying abroad, aside from the credit hours and the change in scenery

“You go for the cultural experience. We don’t want you to sit inside worrying about getting a 99 per cent in your class. You should meet the locals. And it gives you that competitive edge when you’re applying for jobs once you’re done your degree.”

For students that are interested in studying abroad, Sheppard encourages taking three steps.

“First, come and see us. Second, you have to decide where you want to go. Third, talk to a counselor in your faculty.”

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