USD Magazine, Spring 1998

Above: Sabrina TayJ fallow study ab

r;:

or lkneeling) and

Left: The Walsh students in Dxlard. an a paairy class hike. SABRINA Taylor is one of those stu- dents raving about her poetry and psychology courses at t. Clare's International College in Oxford, England. There are fewer tests and more hands-on experiences, Taylor says. One of her favorite memories is a trip with her poetry professor and seven other students to a small village in Wales. They hiked the Welsh hills and read poems while resting in the great outdoors. "The class structure is completely different," says Taylor, now a senior, who studied abroad the second semester of her junior year. "We called professors by their first names and were never really introduced any other way." One of Taylor's psychology courses, which fulfilled credit requirements for her major, was not so much a class as a private tutoring session in which she worked one-on-one with the professor. St. Clare's is an independent college separate from Oxford University - though it is located in the same city - that offers USD students a wide range of classes that transfer into major and elective credits. "The real incentive to study abroad is to develop a wider world view," Muller notes. "It develops a sense of independence in students and lets them experience a different kind of learning." For Taylor, the learning extended well beyond the classroom. The savvy student understood European tendencies toward anti– Americanism and made it a point to be a world citizen rather than an "ugly American." She was elated when the Welsh villagers gathered around the visiting students, asking questions about the United States and coaxing them to sing American songs. "The educational part was great because it was different," Taylor says, "but the professors knew we were also there for travel and education about life."

,,

I) I ~-~-~:t~~:~t

1,1~1) ()~–

,_ ~: ,\ I ~ ~ I ~ (;

N E

17

M A G A Z

U 5 D