Students Reflect on Academy-Hosted Term Abroad Programs

By JOONYOUNG HEO, ROXANE PARK, and  HEMANI STALLARD

This fall, small groups of Exonians have traveled through the country and across the ocean in the Term Abroad program, from the Mountain School in Vermont to Grenoble, France.

Headed by Director of Global Initiatives Patricia Burke Hickey, the program offers students the opportunity to study off-campus, typically for the duration of a term, and immerse themselves in another culture and learning environment. These offerings span from England to Spain to the Bahamas. The primary program this term is held in Grenoble, where students live with host families and attend a local school there.

Burke Hickey spoke to the many benefits of offering a term of study abroad. “There’s a difference between a tourist and a traveler,” she said. “A tourist checks off the boxes of sights and highlights, often moving from place to place — Paris! London! Rome! A traveler settles into a place and gets to know people, builds relationships, learns the language, explores a neighborhood day after day, tries new foods, and perhaps even begins to feel at home.”

“I hope on their terms abroad, Exeter students become travelers and return with a deeper appreciation and understanding of other cultures, more aware of the world, and more confident moving through it,” Burke Hickey continued. “And, of course, I hope their language skills improve!”

Fortunately, the participants in the Grenoble program have been doing just that. For the past two months, they have spent time learning from a unique curriculum, exploring French culture, and getting to know the ins and outs of their town.

The students keep to a busy schedule. “On school days, I take a bus at 7:30 a.m. and I get to school by 8:20 a.m.,” senior Lucy Lukens said. “My classes vary depending on the day; some days I have eight hours and other days I have a single two-hour class. If I have a lot of free time during the day, I often visit downtown Grenoble with my friends to eat lunch and walk around the city. The day ends at 5:10 p.m., after which I take a bus home with my host siblings. My host family usually dines at 8 p.m. in the evening, and after that, I have some for homework before I go to bed.”

“I go to class from 8 a.m. to about 3 p.m.,” senior Quinn Coaxum said. “Unlike Exeter, here the classes are two hours long, and we have around three per day. After class, I either go into the city with the other American students or go home and start my homework for the next day.”

Some others live outside the city, but they similarly exciting experience at school. “I’m living in Crolles, which is a city next to Grenoble,” senior Finn Tronnes said. “Every day I wake up at 6:30 a.m. and take the bus for an hour to school. Then it’s a ton of classes. Some days it can get boring, especially the lecture-based classes, but on many days it’s fun. I’m taking a sick biology lab as well.”

Accordingly, the Exonians there have learned a great deal about France and its language in a rather different way than they would in an Academy classroom. “The biggest difference for me has been living with a host family,” Lukens said. “We speak French all the time in the house, so I’ve been able to progress more rapidly at conversational French. We also take classes with French students and the instruction is entirely in French. Being around native speakers means we practice much more frequently.”

Coaxum shared similar thoughts. “The most obvious benefit has been immersing myself in the French language and culture. My French has improved rapidly. That wouldn’t have been possible at Exeter just because I wouldn’t be speaking it all day.”

Besides observing a significant boost in their language skills, the students have simply enjoyed living in Grenoble. “I really like our location in the Alps, because in addition to living near a city, we are also surrounded by mountains and lakes,” Lukens said. “Between the two environments, there is a wide variety of things to do, so we get the best of both worlds.”

“What I like most about Grenoble is the architecture,” senior Solei Silva-Carin said. “It is so beautiful, so different, and there’s so much history behind it too.”

Silva-Carin also experienced a pleasant culture shock. “I think the biggest cultural difference here is that they don’t waste food,” she said. “Especially in the United States, we’re not as mindful of having zero waste after a meal, and here it’s really uncommon to have food left on your plate. Everyone always finishes everything, and if it’s not finished, they’ll be finished at the next meal or as a snack.” 

Tronnes has enjoyed the pure variety of activities available to him. “I really like having dinner with my host family and eating so much dessert on the daily,” he said. “The vibe is super different from Exeter because school isn’t as big a part of life, and there’s a lot more time to get out and find things to do. I’ve been doing jujitsu with my host sister, and we’ve been able to go to the mountains and to nearby cities a lot on the weekend.”

Nonetheless, while the seven students currently in Grenoble have had these exciting new opportunities to engage with French language and culture, as well as a break from the fast-paced atmosphere of Exeter academics, they are also excited to return home, to the Academy, in just a few weeks.

“I miss the people a lot, and I am super excited to reunite with everyone [in] winter term. I do also miss discussion-based classes,” Lukens agreed, citing the Harkness style that defines Academy education. 

“I definitely miss Exeter,” Coaxum said. “It’s senior fall, my last fall at school, and of course, I feel like I’m missing out. It’s the minor things like Senior Sunrise or Academy Life Day.”

Despite the detachment from campus, of course, the students encouraged prospective students to follow their instincts and apply to take a term abroad. “It’s a really great way to learn a language, and the city of Grenoble is a great place to live,” Lukens said. “The application process is pretty simple — I just had to write one essay about my interest in the program.”

“It has been really weird to be away from all the people I’ve known for so long, but I don’t think I would change it if I could go back,” Silva-Carin reflected. “I think that the best thing to know would be that it is difficult at the beginning. There are a lot of cultural shocks. Honestly, you’re not really prepared to be surrounded by language every day, even if you think you are. It was definitely a big jump, but I definitely recommend this term abroad program to other students.”

“I would 100 percent recommend this program to other students,” Coaxum echoed. “It’s truly a unique experience, and it gives you a chance to experience a different way of life.”

Indeed, ten-time resident director of the Grenoble program and Instructor in Modern Languages Katherine Fair shared what the organizers search for in applicants. “In addition to having a good overall record, an ideal applicant needs to have demonstrated strong motivation to become fluent in French, meet and get to know French people, and discover what life in France is really like,” Fair said. “We do not seek applicants with perfect skills or an advanced level in the language, however. I can think of several examples of students who went to France just after finishing 230 and thrived. And some of our best participants have been students who previously struggled in the language.”

The term abroad in Grenoble is just one of many organized each year at the Academy. This year alone, language immersion programs have been coordinated for not only France, but also Japan, Spain, and Germany. In addition, the school offers internship opportunities for students during the spring and summer. Coordinating everything from transportation, schedules, and housing to billing, paperwork, and authorizations, there is a dedicated team in the Global Initiatives Office that makes it possible for students to enjoy all of the unique trips offered. 

Burke Hickey shared that, upon returning to campus, she and the other Global Initiative program directors receive feedback from students about what can be changed for future terms. “We debrief about modifications after the program when they have some distance from their experiences and have a bit more objectivity,” she explained. “For example, last year, the students in Spain shared that they missed Harkness discussions; this year, Señor Delgado will teach a Spanish literature class as part of the program.”

This is possible because many of the language immersion programs are available to students every year. However, the program directors have faced some challenges in providing all of the programs as options. “Unfortunately, sometimes we don’t decide but rather geopolitics dictates where we go — for example, we are not offering the Russia term program now, and we are hoping to rebuild our Chinese language program post-COVID,” Burke Hickey said. “The Modern Languages Department and student interest support our language immersion programs.”

Among the programs that will indeed be offered in the winter term are those in Madrid, Spain and the Mountain School in Vermont. 

Like its counterpart in Grenoble, the Madrid trip is another exceptional opportunity for students to engage in regional culture and the Spanish language. “I love the language and I want to pursue it,” senior Sarah Sargent said. “I want to study it in college and speak it for the rest of my life. And Spain is a great way to fully immerse myself — the opportunity to explore Spanish culture lends itself to quite a bit of fun.”

“We’ll still be going to school, but I think there’s more emphasis on understanding Spanish culture and improving our language skills,” senior Corinne Blaise said. “I also hope to be fluent in Spanish soon, and the best way to learn a language is to immerse yourself in it! This is such a great opportunity to have so early in life.”

Students on the Madrid trip will also enjoy a looser schedule similar to the Exonians in Grenoble this term. “It’ll be very nice to have a relaxing term,” Sargent said. “I think it’s a nice break while I’m still under the age of 18. My parents can support and advise me while I can still have more freedom and less responsibility. This will be a great experience.”

That same term, a different group of Exonians will travel to Vermont to attend the Mountain School. “At first, I was a little worried because it sounded like I was going to be in the middle of nowhere in Vermont, farming and camping,” upper Kamara Williams said. “But it’s a really cool opportunity to learn more about environmental science and sustainability.”

The Mountain School also offers a less demanding schedule. “Class-wise, it’s similarly structured to Harkness and to Exeter, but I think the learning environment is overall a little less focused on pure academic rigor,” Williams said. “Instead, it extends towards focusing on environmental science or performing different chores or tasks around the school. I think they just put a lot more emphasis on more practical forms of learning. I’m really looking forward to experiencing a different learning environment from Exeter.”

Whether jetting off to Grenoble or Madrid or driving up to Vermont, the many students involved in the Global Initiatives program can agree on one thing — these Term Abroad trips are a fun and invaluable part of their Exeter experience, allowing them the opportunity to explore other places and cultures, and to enjoy some time away from the Exeter environment they are well used to.