Brooke Schlipf is a UAS student headed to Stirling, Scotland through the API program. Brooke is studying biology at UAS.
How do you think studying away from UAS will help you academically?
-I want to try a different educational environment and coursework, and be exposed to a variety of ecological environments as well. I believe both will broaden my knowledge of biology and in particular the area I am not be able to find here at UAS. I hope to find an internship to broaden my work experience. I think with what I learn and comparing my experiences in Alaska to Scotland will make me an overall more-rounded and better biologist.
What are your personal goals?
-I want to grow as a person, and I believe that being immersed in a new culture and seeing how another society works will do that.

Jean Bennett is a UAS Business student who will be in Australia this spring semester through the IFSA-Butler program.
Why Australia?
-I chose Australia simply because I have always wanted to go there. Australia is such a diverse region, that I don’t feel like a simple week-long vacation would have given me much more than a glimpse of what it has to offer. Studying and living there for five months will allow me to experience exponentially more than just traveling there on my own.
What do you hope to accomplish?
-I hope to survive! Not just the snakes and sharks, but I have never lived in a large place, never left the country, and never been more than a short plane ride away from home. When I come back I hope to feel more independent and confident in myself…. that I can in fact push myself beyond what I think I am capable of. On top of personal benefits, I will gain a global perspective for my career in business.

Cheyenne Siverly, UAS Health Science student, will soon be boarding a ship to voyage around the world, stopping at a dozen ports through the Semester at Sea program.
What do you want to gain from this wildly international experience?
-I hope to gain a global perspective, to learn more about our world, its places and people. I’d like to see how different lives of people are in other areas. I’d like to end up more open to new things, and apply what I learn to my future.

Sydney Corcoran, National Student Exchange participant from Nebraska, was studying French at Wichita State University when she decided to come to Juneau.
Why Alaska?
-Why not Alaska? I live for the mountains and what better place to explore them than here?
What has your exchange experience done for you?
-This opportunity has helped me grow as a person, and everything I have learned here I can take with me. I have met some of the most genuine people here. The friends I’ve made are just as much a part of me as I am a part of them; we have really become a family. The whole experience has helped me to become who I am and I have discovered so much about myself.

To all our departing students, we wish you success in your future.