Frostburg State's Short Term Summer Study Abroad Trips

(Courtesy of Lynn Valley Insurance)

The goal of this blog has been to give ideas and discuss student travel, both around the FSU campus as well as abroad.  As this shall be my final post of the semester, I found it only fitting to discuss two study abroad opportunities that will take place over the Summer of 2014, as sponsored by the College of Business Global Experiential Learning.  These two programs which are open to any student in any major are: "Destination China" and "Experiencing Ecuador."  Both of these trips allow students to take a small trip to the corresponding countires in the middle of taking an online class, where the trip would serve as a gap in the online class.

Photo of me sitting on the Great Wall during my trip to China last Summer
as a US Student Ambassador. 

For "Destination China," students will go on a trip to China from 5/30-6/11 where they will be able to see some of the historic and world renown sights that China has to offer in a short time span.  Some of the highlights that the trip includes are the following: visits to China's capital Beijing, as well as their economic capital of Shanghai, a boat trip down the Yangtze River, a modern factory tour, as well as first hand experiences of Chinese culture and cuisine.  The students will visit four areas of China which have been chosen to show students the fast diversity of modern China.  The four areas which were chosen for this experience are: Beijing, Xi'an, Rural Shaanxi Province, and Shanghai.  Now when it comes down to the academic aspect of this experience, the classes which students are to choose from would be: IDIS 350 China in the 21st Century, ECON 490 Special Topics in Economics, and MGMT 699/690 Special Topics- Management in China.

FSU students in Ecuador last summer.
(Photo from FSU's Study Abroad Facebook Page)

"Experience Ecuador" will take students down to South America to allow them to become culturally immersed in the rich and ancient culture that is that of Ecuador.  This program, like "Destination China," will take place right after the culmination of the Spring 2014 semester, with the online class starting on 5/27, yet the trip will take place from 6/4-6/14.  Whilst in Ecuador students will be able to: visit the capital of Quito which sits at 9,000 feet above sea level, visit with Ecuadorian business leaders, visit and tour Banos Mineral Springs, engage in service opportunities in local villages, as well as visit shop in traditional markets.  The trip will take students to the following major areas: Quito, Otavola, a city know for artisans, Banos, Cuenca, an arts rich history center in the Andes, and Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city and seaport. The classes that students will be able to take corresponding to this trip are the following: IDIS 150 Leadership for Success, IDIS 350 Leadership in Latin America, or MGMT 490/690 or LEAD 499 Special Topics in Leadership in Latin America.


I had the opportunity to briefly speak with Dr. Jeffery L. McClellan, one of the Faculty Leaders of "Experience Ecuador" about the advantages of these programs and why students should capitalize on these great opportunities.  Dr. McClellan started off by telling me that, "In all the educational experiences that I've been involved in, nothing has been as life changing as study abroad."  When asked to explain this he said, "The amount of learning, personal growth, and change that one experiences while abroad is astounding."  I completely agree with that statement considering the amount of personal growth I experienced during my 7 months abroad in 2012 and how big of an impact that experience had on me as both a person and as a student.  When asked about the experiences that make these two trips worth it, Dr. McClellan said, "Its cool and fun.  You get to meet people and learn about a culture while being involved in a once in a lifetime opportunity."  Finally before Dr. McClellan had to run out for a meeting, I asked him to leave a one sentence pitch or tagline for the trips, to which he left me with the following message about these trips, "Incredible experience to combine learning with a one in a lifetime experience."

Program info:

1. Application Deadline is 12/6/13!!!
1. If you are interested, pick up an application and work on getting staff recommendation letters now.
2. Contacts:
1. "Destination China:"
1. Dr. Suzanne McCoskey
2. "Experience Ecuador:"
1. Dr. Jeffery McClellan
3. You must have a valid passport for both trips since you will be traveling outside of the US.
4. The cost of the trips are broken down into 3 payments to make them affordable.
1. There is an $150 Administration fee do at time of application.
5. Scholarships and Financial Aid are available for these trips.
6. Finally, take advantage of these great opportunities!
1. I know that if it were not for me graduating this Spring I would take full advantage of these opportunities.  

I'd like to take this time to thank everyone for reading my blog and hopefully I was able to give ideas to people and help them get out of their dorm room and experience the world that surrounds us!!

Thanks again!

-JAscher

Penn Alps Artisan Village: The Perfect Place To Grab A Gift For Mom

As the end of the semester nears we also approach the holiday season.  Granted, the holiday season is one of the most sought after times of the year since everyone is in high spirits and the mood is generally positive.  Yet, there is one aspect of the holiday season that some people, including myself do not look forward to:  getting a gift for my mom.  My mother, like many others is very hard to shop for.  It's not the fact that she is very picky, rather the complete opposite.  My mother is the type of person who will appreciate any gift from anyone, so the real struggle that my brother and I have every year is to find something that she really likes and this year I believe that I may have found it.

Penn Alps Restaurant and Craft Shop is located in Grantsville, just 15 miles away from the Frostburg Campus and is home to the Spruce Forest Artisan Village.  The Artisan Village is a small area at Penn Alps with resident artists who practice their craft daily for any and all to see in small restored log cabins located on the property.  The artisans range vastly from blacksmith to soap maker and have items for sale in the studio's.  The artisans are very friendly and are more than willing to talk to you to explain their craft including the process as well as showing your what they are working on.

Screenshot of Directions to the Artisan Village

While there are a range of artisans, there are a few whose work I really enjoy.  Gary Yoder is a master bird sculptor, whose pieces are sheerly amazing.  He takes a few months to create intricate carvings of birds which can be almost identical to the real thing.  I would strongly suggest clicking on the link above and viewing his artwork, as for it is truly amazing.

A few of the cabins from the Artisan Village. (Image From: Panoramio)

 

I first heard about the Artisan Village from my roommate Martin Proulx who took me there earlier in the semester when his parents came up for a weekend to visit.  In a brief interview, Martin told me a few of the reasons why he goes to the Artisan Village a few times each semester.  When asked how he first found out about it, Martin said, "We took a field trip there my first semester up here (Fall 2010) for a class in my learning community "Experiencing Appalachia"."  I later asked him what his first thoughts of the the Village were and what makes him go back every semester, to which he responded, "Just the artists.  I find it really cool that these artists are able to set up shop in a cabin and area able to work on their craft at their own leisure as long as they med the required hours per week of being in their workshop." Martin continued with, "I also like to go and see what else they have completed. For example the man who carves wood into birds says that it can take a few months for him to finish a project so its neat to go back and see the finished project."

The Spruce Forest Artisan Village is a place that I would strongly suggest that students go and visit for the following reasons:

1. To check out how cool and neat the area is.
1. It is a small compound of cabins that resemble an classic artisan villages.
2. To view some great artwork and craftsmanship which is something which is a relieve compared to the mass produced decor that is found in stores such as Crate and Barrel and other home good stores.
3. To meet and talk with some amazing artisans.
1. They are very friendly and enjoy talking to people about there crafts.
4. To gain a sense of "culture."
1. There is something that can be said about the feeling one has after view some great pieces of work that is handmade by professionals.
5. To purchase some really cool stuff.
1. You can get anything from soaps and lip balms to handmade metal jewelry that is made personally for you or someone for this holiday season.

Winter Is Coming: A Brief Rundown of Local Ski Resorts

When  many people ask me why I chose to go to Frostburg State, rather than other schools in the University of Maryland System my answer is always the same: snowboarding.  I, like many other students here at FSU, enjoy the pleasures that come from going down a snow covered mountain and cannot wait for the slopes to open up.  At FSU, we are lucky enough to be located within a little more than an hours drive from three great resorts.  The purpose of this post is to give the reader basic information about the following resorts: Wisp Resort, Seven Springs Mountain Resort, and

Wisp Resort:

Image via skimap.org

Wisp is a personal favorite of mine, and is a very well rounded resort.  It's location just west of FSU makes it easy to reach and great for spontaneous trips when one finds out that a class is canceled.  Wisp has a good mix of trail types, and is great for beginners.  While Wisp does not offer the best skiing on the East Coast, the level of connivence it has to FSU students makes it second to none.

• Wisp is the closest ski resort to FSU, located around 50 minutes away in McHenry, MD, right on Deep Creek Lake.  
• Wisp has 32 trails, which amount to 10.5 miles of skiable terrain.
•  Hours of Operations
• Lift Tickets
• Interactive Trail Map
• Directions

Seven Springs Mountain Resort:

Image via skimap.org

Seven Springs may possibly be the best skiing on the East Coast south of New York State.  While Seven Springs only has one more trail than Wisp, its wide breadth of trails and vast skiing area set it apart.  Seven Springs is offers a unique type of diversity that many other resorts in the Mid-Atlantic region do not offer.  I would recommend Seven Springs to anyone who is looking to go riding from first to last chair since it is only 47 miles and about an hour away while offering some of the best skiing around.

• 2012-2013 was the 4th consecutive year that TransWorld SNOWboarding readers rated Seven Springs to have the Best Parks and Pipe on the East Cost, as well as in the Top 5 Resorts on the East Coast.
• They have 11 different lifts to maximize the efficiency of skiers getting up the mountain.
•  Trail Map and Mountain Info
• Operation Hours and Lift Ticket Rates
• Directions

Whitetail Mountain Resort:

Image via skimap.org

Whitetail is a resort that I attend frequently during winter break since it is about midway from my house in Germantown to Frostburg.  Whitetail is in my opinion the lesser of these three, yet is still a quality resort for the Mid-Atlantic region.  Whereas Seven Springs and Wisp's trails tend to be wider with more room to cruise around, Whitetail's trails tend to be much more narrow and steeper on average.  Whitetail is also the furtherest away at 71 miles.

• Whitetail has 23 trails and a Vertical Drop of 935 feet.
• Whitetail has 9 ski lifts to get riders up at a rate of 15,000 skiers/hr
• Winter Resort Map/Info
• Hours and Rates
• Directions

Ski season is approaching rapidly, so get ready. I will be bringing my snowboard up when I get back from the Thanksgiving Holiday to maximize my potential to go snowboarding this season.

Dan's Rock Overlook: A FSU Must Go

View atop Dan's Rock Overlook

Now when I started this blog I said that I would be doing posts about travel both internationally as well as in the Frostburg area.  Considering that it has been a while since I have focused on the Frostburg area, I decided to take a little trip to Dan's Rock on Dan's Mountain on Tuesday since my 12:30 class was canceled.  For those who are unaware, Dan's Rock is a large rocky outcrop with an expansive Eastern and Southern views just miles away from Frostburg State University.

A road sign depicting the upcoming turn towards Dan's Rock Overlook 

Getting to Dan's Rock from Frostburg State University is relatively simple as for all one needs to do is drive a few miles to Old Dans Rock Rd SW, then continue driving on that road until you reach Dan's Rock Overlook.

Dan's Rock is approximately 8 or so miles from FSU

Once at Dan's Rock, feel free to park your car in the parking across the road from the overlook and go exploring the view as well as the "tagging" that many people do when they first visit. 

The view of Dan's Rock Overlook from the park

A note on "tagging:" Many of the college students feel the urge to "tag" that they were at Dan's Rock and spray paint all sorts of things on the rocky outcrop.  I urge you to please take into consideration that if you are thinking of "tagging" Dan's Rock, not only are you vandalizing the area, but you are also leading to the abundant pollution that exists there.

A small sample of the "tagging" that occurs at Dan's Rock Overlook

A few quick facts about Dan's Rock Overlook according to SummitPost.Org:

1. Dan's Rock Overlooks' Elevation is 2898 ft / 883 m.
2. You can view the Potomac River and into West Virginia along the ridge lines on a clear day.
3. "The mountain's first name is named after Daniel Cresap. Daniel Cresap who was the son of a pioneer was famous for climbing a tree while going after a bear. According to the story the tree fell on the rock, making the name become Dan's Rock. "
4. Dan's Rock is located on the front section of the Allegheny Plateau.
5. There is a small caver under the overlook if you are daring enough to climb down to it.

The cave under the overlook



A day around Frostburg.

Students hanging out on the benches between classes

(Right to left: Carl Davis, a student who wished no to be named since she was wearing a Towson sweatshirt, and D'asia Magginson.)

A gathering of 8 Alumni restock on FSU apparel.

A horde of students stock up on what may be their meal before the weekend.

Studying Abroad: 3 Personal Stories

After last weeks post about the option of studying aboard in the United Kingdom to earn a graduate degree, I have decided to interview three people who either are currently, or have studied abroad in the past. This past week I was able to conduct Facebook interviews with one Frostburg State student, Gabby Blassou, a Junior who is majoring in Early Childhood Education, as well as two of my friends, Ben Silverman and Jesse Simpson from my time studying abroad at Tel Aviv University.

The interview I conducted with these three individuals was brief yet informative as for all three were very busy and only had a few minutes to chat when I interviewed them. The questions that I asked each interviewee were the following:

1) Introduce yourself: Name, year, major and where you are abroad?

2) Why did you decide to go abroad? 

3) What is life like living abroad? 

4) How have you grown as a person, if you have at all? 

5) Would you recommend studying abroad to other students? Why/why not?

The first person to respond to my questions was Gabby Blassou. Miss Blassou answered the second question by stating, "I decided to study abroad because I've always wanted to and I am half African half Irish I lived in Africa for 5 years and I wanted to know my moms side(which is Ireland) and it's an exchange program." Gabby is enrolled at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick, Ireland, which has a direct exchange program through Frostburg State University. Miss described living abroad as, "The easy life." She continued to describe how the education system was different in Ireland as for, "Studying here it's only an final assessment where you have one test compared to the states where it's continuous (where I find it easier as continuous)." While we were discussing why we would recommend people to go abroad we both came to an agreement after she stated that, "All in all, if you don't go abroad...educationally or recreational then whats the point? Life is about new experiences, banding new friendships, and creating new journeys. That's the key to "life" honestly." I would like to thank Gabby Blassou for participating in my interview and wish her the best of luck during her semester abroad!



Gabby Blassou enjoying her first Guinness in Ireland.
(Photo from Gabby's Facebook and used with permission)


The next person that I was able to interview was Ben Silverman. I met Ben in the Spring of 2012, while we were both on a study abroad program at Tel Aviv University in Tel Aviv, Israel. Ben and I were both fortunate enough to play on the Israeli National Lacrosse team during the Summer of 2012 in the European Championships in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Ben opened up the interview stating that he decided to go abroad as for, "I decided to a abroad because I wanted to have the experience of living in a new country and culture and to get away from the Canadian winter." To me that makes perfect sense as for Tel Aviv is located right on the Mediterranean Sea and we were able to view the sea from campus. We began talking about how we both changed as individuals for the better as a result of our time abroad and he proclaimed that, "Studying abroad help me grow as a person because it gave me opportunities to have experiences I never would have had otherwise." Silverman concluded the interview by saying that he 100% recommends studying abroad to anyone and everyone and said that is what you can expect when you study abroad, "Life abroad was very different. It was much more exciting, discovering new parts of the city and country everyday. Meeting different people from the around the world and submerging myself in a different culture."




Ben Silverman is dressed up as Santa Claus in Tel Aviv, Israel for Purim.


The final person that I was able to interview this week about studying abroad was another friend that I met while abroad, Jesse Simpson, who is currently studying abroad again in Israel at Interdisciplinary Center Herzlyia, and is in his second year there pursuing a degree in Communications. Simpson and I spoke just briefly as he was very busy with coursework, yet was able to make an exception for an old friend in myself. Jesse spoke about the differences between living in Toronto, Canada and Israel as vast yet rewarding. He went on to say that, "life is very different, especially being across the world... hard to adapt to learning a new language, different foods, climate..." When it came about as to why he chose to study abroad, he was in a similar sense as Miss Blassou as well as Ben Silverman as for he wanted to try something new, "Decided to go abroad mainly for a new experience (get out of a city I've been in my whole life), and because I've always loved Israel & my parents encouraged it." Simpson concluded his interview by saying that he would tell anyone to study abroad, even if only for a semester as for it helps your grow immensely as a person to which he has, "definitely grown by becoming more independent from adapting to a totally different way of life. also grown socially by being forced to meet new people/ and language."



Myself and Simpson (Right) at our study abroad programs end of the year party,
With my roommate, Jon Yedgerova, popping up behind.

All and all, I would like to thank all three of my interviewees: Gabby Blassou, Ben Silverman, and Jesse Simpson, for taking time out of their busy lives to answer a few questions for me to help me assemble this blog post about personal experiences studying aboard. This is just a very tiny snapshot of what life is like abroad from three individuals, yet there are many more out there. If you are thinking about studying abroad, please talk to anyone and everyone who has done it in the past to learn more and hear some great stories, as for I'm sure they would not mind talking to you about their time abroad.

Earn Your Graduate Degree Abroad In The UK

Two weeks ago, I received an email from Frostburg State University's Center for International Education about a program being put on in the Lane University Center about the possibility of getting a Master's degree in the United Kingdom.  I decided to go to the program to just see what it was about because I felt that it would be an interesting blog post and that it would give me a different perspective as I search for graduate programs.  Little did I know that attending this presentation would lead to me to fill out five applications to attend graduate school in the United Kingdom.

Jonathan Shadel presenting about Across The Pond in the Lane University Center

The presentation was about 45 minutes in duration and was put on by Across The Pond, a company that is partnered with 33 of the UK's top universities to help facilitate the process of American students searching, applying, and finally getting settled at a university in the UK.  The presenter at this program was a Frostburg State alum and recent graduate with a Master's degree in International Relations from University of Exeter, Jonathan Shadel.  During the course of his presentation, Shadel spoke about the unique experience of earning a masters in the UK as well as some of its perks compared to the US.  A few of the perks of going abroad for a graduate degree that Shadel spoke about were:

1. Graduate Degree's in the United Kingdom are recognized and fully equivalent to their United States counterparts.
2. Most graduate programs in the UK are shorter than in the US with 9 months of study and 3-4 months of dissertation.
1. Graduate programs in the US are generally around 2-3 years as for they follow the semester system and are not continuous as they are in the UK.
3. Graduate programs are mostly cheaper in the UK generally less expensive due to their duration.
4. US Federal loans are accepted in the UK, so anyone can study over study overseas.
5. Experience gained while studying overseas gives you an invaluable edge against competitors in the job market. 
1. Shows that you are willing to step outside ones comfort zone.

After the presentation, I received a business card from Shadel and filled out an online Interest Form about my interests in earning a graduate degree in the UK, including what field I wish to pursue as well as preferred location.  About a week or so later, I received a personal email form Shadel with basic information about various schools in the UK where I could seek a MA in International Relations, as well as information about what I should be looking for in those schools to help aid in my decision. Shadel also gave me more information about how Across the Pond would help me free of charge to apply to 3-5 schools as well as help with the process of getting a student visa and finding housing.

Screenshot about Graduate degrees in the UK from Across The Pond's website

After a few more emails back and forth, I have decided that I will postpone my applications until next semester as I plan on raising my grade point average from a 3.279 to hopefully above a 3.3 out of 4.0.  As I continue to think about the possibility of earning a graduate degree in the United Kingdom, the more likely that reality becomes.  I hope that this post has helped give you some insight into the possibility of earning a graduate degree in the UK with the help of Across The Pond.

If you would like more information, or wish to contact Jonathan Shadel: jonathan@studyacrossthepond.com