Student Opportunities: Study Tours

One incredible opportunity that Union Adventist University students have is the yearly chance to participate in study tours. Every year there is an opportunity to spend a month in other countries exploring, adventuring, and learning with friends all while earning school credits. Typically, students can sign up for a spring study tour, taking place in May and lasting around 2 weeks, to places like Central America or the UK.

For students attending the Central American study tour, they can get in touch with nature through adventures and excursions while earning college credits. Professor Lori Peckham put it best when she asked, “Would you like your classroom to be a cloud forest, a coral reef, a volcano, and a river? Join the 2025 Costa Rica study tour and earn six college credits in amazing locations.”

Nicole Hardt, a member of the 2023 Central American study tour, said, “Getting these credits seemed amazing. What a good deal! You go to Central America, you’re on the beach, and you’re also getting three upper-division science credits. What could be better? When else are you in your twenties, in school, all together with your friends and traveling?”

During the UK study tour students receive religion and history credits as they travel all over the UK, spending the majority of their time in England but also visiting Edinburgh, Scotland, Hereford, Oxford, and Cornwall. Students get to explore, visit historically relevant locations, and visit museums.

Regarding the UK study tour, Heidi Jacobo said, “I loved the study tour, I’ve never been out of the country before, so getting to go to Europe and Scotland was amazing…I also really liked meeting the locals and getting to talk to them because it was new for a lot of us, but it was also new for them, as some of them hadn’t met Americans before and vice versa. The people were very nice and if I could go back I definitely would.”

Through these experiences, students learn to appreciate other cultures, people, and art forms. Students have shared that whatever you put into these trips is what you will get out of them. As Nicole said, “There was not one boring moment.” For more information about this year's study tour, feel free to attend an informational meeting, details available on UGroups, or contact Professor Bruce Forbes who is available by email at bruce.forbes@uau.edu.

by Olivia Sweet