Studying abroad through a Catholic university strengthens the mind, body and spirit, according to students who have benefited from the experience.

Studying abroad provides many opportunities, one being intellectual and experiential growth. “We get to see the statue of David, listen to lectures at the Pantheon and learn on-site about the history,” said Monica Stephens, a University of Dallas student from Angelus, Kansas. It was a surreal experience, visually learning what you would normally hear in a classroom, Stephens said.

Stephens said she learned so much about her faith, history and herself.

“Everything had a story, and it solidified and strengthened so much of what I learned in the classroom.”

For active ROTC member Gloria DeMoura, a sophomore at Mount St. Mary’s University, studying abroad provided an opportunity to appreciate physical health. “People in Europe believe in walking,” DeMoura said. “The healthier lifestyle impacts education, too,” she continued. “You can smell the bakeries, see the trees, take in the fresh air.”

Jacob Francois, a senior at Benedictine College, studied abroad in Poland with the John Paul II Project. He said that integrating the physical into study improves the entire person.

“Whenever you read a saint’s biography, you really hear their glory stories, but when you walk where St. Faustina or [Blessed] Pier Giorgio walked, you realize that these were normal people who chose the good in any regard. It was an experience that made holiness and sainthood so much more tangible. I recognized that they had the same humanity that we have, and we can be saints just like them,” Francois said.

Studying abroad provides a means to grow in faith not only by testing it, but by witnessing it.

“The trip gave me a higher appreciation for the human person through our strengths and differences,” said DeMoura. “It gave me so much inspiration to show our faith to other people and learn from theirs, as well.”

“I encountered so many saints while I was there,” DeMoura continued. “I became friends with these people I was visiting relics of and seeing [depictions of] in churches, and now I can approach them as a friend in prayer.”

“It was one of the most religious and spiritual experiences I’ve ever had,” Francois added.

“It is a life changer,” said John Boyle, chair and professor of the Department of Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. He has been involved in the Rome semester St. Thomas offers, helping to oversee the program’s success and serving as an abroad faculty member twice.

He emphasized the unified aspects of community life, spirituality and academics students receive by studying abroad with a Catholic university, specifically in Rome. “The thing about Rome is that it is in many ways the heart of the Church,” Boyle said. “Part of the experience of our students is being in Rome experiencing the universality of the Church.”

Emma Jirak, a graduate of Benedictine College, was the Register’s 2018 summer intern.

This story was updated after posting.

 

 

Away From Campus

After a day of walking miles, a bus ride, a train ride and getting lost in a city I did not know, I finally found my hostel and gladly crawled into bed, mentally preparing myself for the next day of sightseeing and travel.

Waking groggy and much too early, I went into the common area for breakfast. There, a few other travelers were gathered.

One approached me and asked about my t-shirt, which sported an image of my good friend St. John Paul II. After a conversation about Catholicism, studying abroad and the importance of coffee, we went our separate ways.

After this conversation, as I proceeded on my journey, it occurred to me that even when I was not in my villa classroom, I was learning, and not only about history and my country of residence, but about myself. I was exercising my mind, spirituality and body as I walked through these streets.

Studying abroad in Florence, Italy, in fall 2016 through a Catholic university was truly a blessed experience.

            — Emma Jirak