Tip # 1: Go on Exchange

I'll probably end up talking about my experience abroad quite a bit, so here's tip #1: Go on an Exchange. Last year, I had the opportunity to study at Cornell University with a Killam Fellowship for the Winter/Spring Semester. It was most likely the best experience of my life! Not only did I get to take some fantastic American politics and history classes, but I also met some amazing people, tried out all so many of new things (including rock climbing, swing dancing and living on my own), and traveled around the USA. The Killam Fellowship program, along with a lot of assistance from Nipissing University, family, and all my savings made this experience possible!

While the Killam program was not a traditional exchange, I would encourage any student, especially at Nipissing University, to study abroad, do an international internship, or study on a fellowship. Sometimes the courses you'd like to take aren't offered at Nipissing (case-in-point, you can count the classes on American politics and history at Nip on one hand), so an exchange provides you the opportunity to take a greater diversity of classes. Furthermore, although some will say "it's just the US," any foreign country will provide you an opportunity to reflect on what makes Canada great, while also learning about (and learning to love) your host country.

I think one of the things that most impedes students who want to go on exchange is cost, but if you keep your grades up and take an interest in what's going on around campus, there are fellowships (like mine), international internships (like my friend Matt did) and even bursaries/scholarships to help with exchanges. Plus, if you do a traditional exchange, you only pay Nipissing tuition (unlike mine, where I had to pay full Cornell tuition... hence the crazy cost).

You can contact Melissa in the Nipissing International Office (inside the Office of Student Development) if you want to find out more!