Academic Transitions:

Upper School Registrar Katy Lake plays a major role in Semester Abroad logistics. Due to the mounting interest in semester?abroad programs, Hockaday has instituted an internal application process aside from the application to the program itself. ? 

“This year we started something new because we had so much interest,” Lake said. “Students first needed to apply through Hockaday to be approved which included a written essay.”?? 

Once selected, students conference with Lake and Head of Upper School Lisa Culbertson to discuss how studying abroad would affect their academics and sports. ?Approved students are then supported in the application process through submission of transcripts, recommendation letters and contact with the terms abroad representatives. ? 

“I think it’s a great way for students to show independence and maturity and the ability to go off into another country,” Lake said. “I mean that’s pretty amazing to do when you’re only 14 or 15 years old.” 

 Lake explained that coordinating a term abroad does take foresight and planning. Hockaday helps students plan out their class credits and corresponding graduation requirements. ? 

“Usually, the semester away programs cover a lot of the same classes that Hockaday offers,” Lake said. “However, most students do?have to take Chemistry when they come back and then Biology in their senior year. ?This can sometimes limit the amount of ‘fun’ semester classes students can take?in their senior year.” 

Many factors play into the criteria that Hockaday considers when approving students for Semester Abroad Programs. Students can study away during Forms II and III.  

“We take many factors into consideration such as academic performance, behavioral history, the program a student wants to attend, and the reasons for wanting to study away,” Lake said. 

Each program has distinct niches that make it attractive to different students depending on their interests.  

“For School Year Abroad, the big selling point is location (Spain, France, or Italy) and immersing oneself in the local language in culture.” Lake said. “For the School for Ethical and Global Leadership (SEGL) the draw is leadership development and international affairs.”  

 Unique Classes: 

New locations allow for programs to use the environment as a learning experience.? 

For senior Lila Noack, who attended Swiss Semester in 2022, the streams and mountains found in Switzerland offered her a chance to learn about scientific concepts through hands-on activities. 

“One day out of the week you’d have a geology lab where you go out and hike to some place in the mountains, and you’d look at rocks to collect samples,” Noack said. “One lab we did was in the river, and we were talking about water flow and water pressure.”?  

Along with using rocks and the river to cultivate her understanding of environmental science, she also learned about glaciers and the formation of mountain ranges. 

 Junior Chloe Oeschger attended?the School Year Abroad (SYA) program?in Rennes, France the fall semester in her sophomore year. ? 

“We had all our classes except for Math and English in French so that made it different,” Oeschger said.?? 

Aside from required classes, students also had the option to pursue two electives and other extracurricular activities outside the classroom. ? 

?“There were choices like Environmental Science, Politics and Art History, which counted towards my History of Arts and Music (HAM) requirement,” Oeschger said. “We also got to go on field trips to museums and sometimes I ice-skated in the afternoons.” 

With a rotating schedule of 45-minute classes and an open campus policy, Oeschger mentioned there was plenty of time to take buses around the city to various cafes.? 

“My favorite memory is when we took a bus to Bordeaux, and we stayed there for a week in a hotel,” Oeschger said.? 

Community and New Friends:

Semester Abroad programs not only offer once in a lifetime experiences, but also opportunities to meet people from different cultures and backgrounds who make the experience that much more special. 

Spending a year abroad, Senior Angela Morales lived with a host family. They would go fishing and diving for squid and lobster in the northern part of France.?? 

“The ocean was so salty that you didn’t have to salt anything you caught,” Morales said. “My favorite part was being able to pull mussels from rocks and eat them later. On vacation, we would always go fishing at their second home.”? 

Along with the memories Morales made with her host family, she continues to keep in contact with the friends she spent these adventures with.?? 

“I’m in a group chat with all my friends, and we text now and then,” Morales said. “With one of my friends, we will just FaceTime random times of the day. Even though she’s in New York, we still make time for each other.”? 

 “I think the reason our relationships were so special was because of how different we all were. Everyone was from all over the country, so I found myself becoming friends with people who I never normally would become friends with,” Noack said.  

Determined to keep each other updated, Swiss Semester students have created an Instagram account, where Swiss alumnae can post college acceptances and other life updates.? 

“Anytime people come to town, I always make sure I go out of my way to see them,” Noack said.  

Keeping in Touch: 

Located more than 5,000 miles away from home, students at Swiss Semester kept in touch with their family through phones. Flip phones.?? 

“They’d have a box of 10 phones that people could use to call their parents,” Noack said. “It was kind of crazy. You got an hour or so to talk to them. You basically had to get in line.”? 

Freshman Amelie Fisher, sister of sophomore Anna Fisher who is currently attending the Swiss Semester Program, uses TouchNote to keep her sister updated from home. The app allows Amelie and her family to create letters digitally in the U.S. and prints them in Europe.???? 

“You can make your own card and send photos,” Fisher said. “It has a back where you can write on it, and it also sends quicker in about five days.”? 

Sending students away for such a long time can be a tough decision for families to make.  

“We felt confident that Kathryn would have a great experience, so we tried to focus on the positive,” Jessica Epperson, mother of junior Kathryn Epperson, said. “And, the fall semester goes by very quickly.”  

Kathryn’s family keeps in touch with her and receives updates about her experience in Zaragoza, Spain using What’s App. Although this transition can seem daunting, Epperson believes that Kathryn’s experience abroad will allow her to develop skills she may find beneficial in the future.  

“Participation in SYA has provided a great opportunity for Kathryn to focus on her Spanish fluency and cultural literacy,” Epperson said. “As Kathryn is interested in international opportunities in the future, I believe these improved language skills will be a great asset.”