Category Archives: Chile

Study Abroad with API

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API – Academic Programs International – has officially been partnered with OSU since 2005, and over 140 OSU students have studied abroad in eight countries thus far.  All of the API programs are approved at OSU and available to all eligible students.

Academic Programs International (API) is an educational organization dedicated to providing challenging and enriching study abroad programs for our students. The experience of living, interacting and learning in an international environment presents invaluable opportunities for each student’s academic and personal development. All of our academic and extracurricular offerings are selected with the goal of helping students to grow more self-aware and culturally sensitive. We envision each student evolving from a tourist to a resident to a global citizen, and API is dedicated to supporting this lifelong process.

API study abroad

API is committed to providing the best comprehensive study abroad experience possible with personal attention available to our students throughout his or her program, and to working closely with home universities to offer support before, during and after the education abroad experience.

API offers a wide variety of programs in 13 countries, 30 cities across Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. Programs range from as short as two weeks, to a summer, term/quarter, semester, or academic year. Students can generally study a foreign language at any level of proficiency, and most programs offer courses in English as well. API also offers various scholarships to eligible and qualified students.

API Gives Back

Each semester, API on-site directors organize an “API Gives Back Project” to promote greater understanding of local dynamics and provide further insight into the host culture. Projects are often dedicated to supporting those in need or promoting environmental sustainability. For example, students have participated in beach beautification projects in Italy and worked to promote the preservation of salt marshes in Spain. API students in other sites have painted local orphanages, organized theatrical events for seniors and children, and donated their time to support community organizations providing services to disabled children and adults. It is our hope that these experiences will promote integration and intercultural awareness between our students and the host community.

Don’t take our word for it!

If you’d like to speak with someone who recently experienced an API program, consider connecting with an API Peer Mentor, or read student reviews of our programs on Abroad101, GoAbroad.com, and Facebook.

API is the established social media leader in study abroad. Connect with us on the following sites and join the conversation today!

API study abroad

Study Abroad with CIEE

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CIEE – Council on International Educational Exchange – has officially been partnered with OSU since 2006, and over 60 OSU students have studied abroad in 24 different countries thus far. All of the CIEE programs are approved at OSU and available to all eligible students.

Studying abroad is for more than language majors. It’s for anyone who wants to indulge a passion, explore a fascination, or challenge the status quo—of the wide world or their personal routine. CIEE has sent students abroad since 1947; since the late 1960s, we have been developing our own study abroad programs. We partner with universities to create a CIEE Study Center, staffed with a CIEE-employed Resident Director and often other support staff available to students around the clock. We offer courses at the host university and at times develop program-specific courses available only to CIEE students, including a critical analysis of the host culture. We offer quality academics alongside opportunities for cultural immersion such as excursions, homestays, volunteer opportunities, and internships with the goal of providing the highest quality study abroad experiences.

We have the widest range of programs in the world and we can help shape your study abroad experience according to major, location, semester, language, activities, and more.

With CIEE, you’ll make the most of your program through guided excursions, field study and internship programs, volunteering, conversation exchanges, and homestays. Meet new friends, enjoy unique experiences, and gain a new perspective on the world. And, you’ll do all that and still graduate on time.

With more than 125 programs in 41 countries you’ll definitely find the perfect one for you. Study abroad with CIEE and earn credit for courses in business, natural or social science, humanities—and everything in between. Go for a semester, a year, or a summer. Don’t speak a foreign language? Don’t let that scare you: Almost half of our study abroad programs don’t have a language prerequisite.

Still undecided, how about these reasons to choose CIEE:

  • We provide the widest selection of study abroad programs
  • We deliver the ultimate learning opportunity—both in and out of the classroom
  • Our local-savvy staff ensures student safety and program quality
  • We’re committed to exceeding expectations—read alumni program evaluations online
  • We offer extensive pre-departure support

Don’t just take our word for it though, read blog entries from the people that know our programs the best—our participants. Visit www.ciee.org/blogs to get a first-hand perspective on what it’s like to study abroad with CIEE from our participants and staff overseas. You can also learn more about our programs by visiting us on Facebook to look at photos, connect with recently accepted students, or ones that are returning from their time abroad.

To find the program that’s perfect for you, visit www.ciee.org/study to begin your study abroad experience today. For more information for OSU students, visit the OSU Education Abroad website.

Dance fever in Santiago

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I’m not a dancer. This isn’t an attempt to solicit a compliment or to lower social expectations if the event should arise that I must dance in front of others; it is just a simple fact. It is not even a question of ability; I just don’t feel comfortable dancing and find it mentally difficult to understand how others can boogie the night away in a rhythmic euphoria of steps, moves, and gyrations. At least that was my mindset in the U.S.Katie Parker Climbing in Chile, Spring 2009

We have all heard the stereotype that all Latin American people, especially women, can dance. While I had several interesting conversations about this with my Chilean friends (it is not true and quite offensive, so don’t spread that nasty generalization), I did find that music is more present in Chilean culture, and it is more common to dance at parties and social functions than in the United States. This cultural propensity for expressive movement made me a bit nervous the first time I was dragged (literally, we are talking about a fear of dancing that I have here, people) to a club in Santiago. Would I be expected to know some crazy American steps? Would any one dance with me? Would others publicly scorn me and make a wide circle of nightclub shame around the gringa? As we can see, some of these fears were slightly paranoid and hyperbolized, but needless to say, I was more than a little apprehensive when walking into the warehouse/reggaeton club.

After all that fear, I was pleasantly surprised that not only does my body actually move in ways that could be called dancing, but that I actually enjoyed it. My previous dreadful experiences of preschool dance class (I lasted one day before I asked my mother not to take me back), school dances, and choreographed numbers for drama productions were erased as I swayed with the hundred other youths to heavy bass beats. Not everyone there could have auditioned for a music video, but it was more the willingness to move to the music that was appreciated and welcomed. The atmosphere was more low-pressure and inclusive than my other dance moments. Not only that, but I was asked to dance, or at least I ended up dancing with a very nice boy, as the formal asking didn’t seem part of Santiago club culture.

Now, this doesn’t mean that I turned into a major clubber or that I now plan on dedicating my life to interpreting all emotion through dance, but I appreciate more the social role that dance plays in bringing people together. Although I still wouldn’t list dancing as my favorite activity, I now fear it less. Study abroad is above all a chance to stretch your limits, and I can proudly say that I stretched quite a lot. I’ll even dance in the United States now, a little bit, maybe, when no one is looking.

Katie Parker, Junior in History and University Honors College, studied through CIEE in Santiago, Chile for Winter/Spring 2009.