In exactly a week, the sophomore class will (hopefully) have completed and submitted their applications for NYU study away for the 2015 fall semester. The past week, although stressful for the sophomores, has been extremely informative for all students contemplating their study away choices - primarily through the organization of BBI Skype Sessions and the World Bazaar. From Monday to Wednesday of last week, the Breaking Barriers Initiative organized Skype conversations with nine of NYU’s Global Academic Centers. Under BBI’s La Familia program, the ‘Skype Sessions’ were an attempt to introduce these Centers to NYUSH students and allow them to hear about studying away life from a student-perspective. At each session, students got the opportunity to talk to a Site Ambassador and enquire into their personal experiences at each site. One of the many opportunities that NYU provides us with is the access to 13 academic sites across the world. Sophomores next year have the chance to study abroad for one to three semesters at NYU’s portal campuses in New York and Abu Dhabi, alongside sites including Accra, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Florence, London, Madrid, Paris, Prague, Sydney, Tel Aviv and Washington D.C. Since the inauguration of NYU Shanghai, the school has experienced many firsts. The first freshman class, the first sophomore class, and now, the first class to study abroad. These Skype Sessions were the first attempt at attempting to inform NYUSH students of differing student experiences at each site. Although Skype Sessions were only held with nine of the sites (Paris and Berlin were unfortunately not willing to participate and Tel Aviv and Accra were not in operation this semester), they gave the students great insight into all aspects of the study away sites. Topics of conversation included travel options (especially at European sites), residential options, courses available, language barriers, living costs and much more. The second event that provided students with information about study away site was the World Bazaar. Last Thursday, the 15th-floor colloquium magically transformed into a buzzing sphere of culture. Various booths were set up to showcase each different site, with fun facts on display and local food available to all attendees. The NYU Paris stall featured baguettes and cheese, whilst the Tel Aviv stall had pretty great hummus and pita bread, and NYU New York had mini burgers. The only disappointments were probably the Berlin and Sydney stalls - Berlin had passport holders and free bottled Chinese tea, and Sydney only had bananas. Apart from the frustrations surrounding some of the food, the event did exemplify a sense of community and cultural awareness that NYU Shanghai students exert on a daily basis. Alongside the food, the World Bazaar featured stellar performances from students. The performances all incorporated traditional cultures - exhibiting more than just the NYU sites, but the many cultures of NYUSH students. The Xiao Long Shakers did an extraordinary African gumboot performance, whilst the “Filipinos” (including Sevi Reyes, Johan Yao, Roxanne Roman and David Santiano) performed a beautiful rendition of “Harana” (meaning serenade) in Tagalog. We also had a very informative lesson from our own José Antonio Cabrera Sánchez on how to count in Spanish. Behind the scenes, BBI worked extremely hard to organize both these events. Anurag Rakshit commented that it was a combined effort by the BBI team. “Everyone chipped in and it was a complete team effort, which is why it was so great and overwhelming to see the outpouring of positive response we received at both of these events.” Ashley Tennant, a freshman involved with BBI, was extremely pleased with the outcome of the Skype Sessions, although the “process was really long, from getting approval from the school to contacting each global site to get contacts.” Overall, she thought “the Skype calls went great … the conversations lasted a good 45-60 minutes, and most students were able to get all of their questions answered. I've heard from a lot of students that these calls really helped them figure out where they want to study abroad, so I'd definitely say it was a success.” Acknowledgments also have to be made to sophomore Megan Hou, who was the communicator to each site and scheduled each call. Although both these events were entertaining, well-executed and informative, there is still uncertainty surrounding the academic aspects of study away. Many of the questions involving majors, minors, course requirements and other academic aspects were not able to be answered by the student ambassadors. However, information is being updated almost daily - only last week were the Global Network minors made available to view by the students. NYU Shanghai administrators also published ‘NYU Study Away Course Equivalencies for NYU Shanghai Students’, which describes which courses at which sites fulfill NYUSH major and core curriculum requirements. BBI plans to continue these events next year for the current freshman class, and hopefully by then, more information will be available. With regards to the fact that information about every site was not available, Ashley stated that, “Hopefully next year we can get every site on board for the Global Skype Sessions. I'd say that's the most important goal for next year.” [cincopa AYCARFM0hO1H] This article was written by Isabella Farr. Send an email to [email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit: Tirza Alberta, Nicole Chan