Study Abroad at CMU

Story by Breanna Prince and Jazmin Anderson

Many students have the chance to explore the world through the study abroad programs Central Michigan University offers. 

There are over 150 internships and programs in over 50 countries for students to pick from.

Juniors at CMU, RaeVen Griffin and Ella See share their experience, as they are currently away studying abroad.

Griffin is currently studying abroad in Japan for a year. She left Michigan on Aug 27, 2024, and plans on getting back this summer. 

“I wanted to be able to really learn the language and my professor at CMU said half a year would be too short and after a year, you’d really be able to get the language down,” Griffin said. “The year is me trialing and erroring my life in Japan since I want to live there. I wanted to see, do I actually want to live here, and a year was perfect to see all the seasons, events, and year-round stuff happening.”

She studied Japanese in her room before going to Japan, unaware that she would eventually study abroad there. 

“I like learning languages and about other people’s cultures as a hobby,” she said. “Japan was one of the last countries on my list.”

Prior to her trip to Japan, she knew only three words of the language. Her self-study efforts had been minimal, and despite completing a required Japanese course, she lost all knowledge of the language after pushing it aside for a year.

“I had to relearn the language while being here,” she said. “For me, since language learning is my hobby, I really like learning Japanese and it really isn’t that hard for me to learn and memorize. I started learning N5 (Japanese-Language Proficiency Test) in August 2024 and I’ll hopefully take the N3 exam by July 2025. If I study really hard I think I can do N2. So the total it may take me to learn fluently is 11 months, maybe a bit more.”

She said she loves the culture as it’s built off everyone being in harmony.

“It’s strict but it’s the same as my household and I felt like I was at home when I came,” she said. “The culture is very beautiful. A lot of things are intentional, like allowing plants to grow in concrete cracks or around your house because nature is more beautiful naturally.” 

Griffin has made many new friends while being in Japan. 

“They’ve taught me many things, showed me many things and places, explained a lot about Japan and the culture, I’ve learned history for them, I’ve learned about the good and the bad in Japan, and I’ve been able to see things other exchange students never get to see or experience,” she said. 

While being in Japan for over six months, she has learned a lot about Japan’s culture, like taking their learning and schooling seriously. 

“Many kids and teens basically live at school,” she said. “It made me feel happy because this is the mindset that I also have. I learned how people in America take school and get a job so easily for granted.” 

Griffin has had a lot of fun studying abroad and is happy she got the chance to through CMU programs.

“You should study abroad because it’s truly an amazing learning experience,” she said. “My eyes were opened about more of the outside world. I’m not living in my privileged American bubble anymore.  I can firsthand see how other countries work and how it’s beautiful despite being different. I can see that not everyone speaks English and is the same as me and that’s what makes the world beautiful. Study abroad instead of having people learn about you and speak your language, learn about them for once.” 

Ella See is studying abroad in Spain. She finds that the quality and pace of life are quite different compared to the United States. 

“I think back home, there’s much more of an environment that encourages a very rushed culture and lifestyle,” she said. “People are always in a hurry and there’s always urgency and pressure to perform and be productive.”

See said that people in Spain are less focused on their work and take more time to enjoy their days.

“It’s been fun to have a new perspective on work-life balance and it’s been very relaxing and refreshing just to see people kind of slow down and enjoy their pace of life differently than people in the United States, she said.”

According to See, her university in Spain feels less formal in comparison to CMU.

“It’s a much smaller school, the class sizes are very small,” she said. “It’s technically a study abroad university, so it’s mostly just people from international universities from other places.”

When it comes to speaking Spanish, See said being immersed in the language helped her improve her already existing language skills.

“I’ve been studying Spanish since I was in middle school, so I’ve been taking it for a while, but coming here has really proved that unless you are actively, very consistently practicing another language, you’re not going to learn it like you think you are, she said.”

Being able to interact with locals and speak the language outside of a class environment was a good learning experience for See.

She loves being able to go outdoors and explore nature.

“There’s so much to do outdoors because we’re located in a city that is like 20 minutes from the beach, but there’s also mountains,” she said. “We’ve had plenty of weekends where we’ve gone for just some beautiful hikes on the cliffs by the coast, and some other ones that are more in the mountains and a little more secluded.”

Marko Schubert, Assistant Director of the Office of Study Abroad, said aside from offering semester-long and summer programs, they also offer weeklong programs for spring break.  

“The spring break programs are usually faculty-led programs, so it’s a group of CMU students that travel with a CMU professor to a destination,” Schubert said. “Sometimes spring break programs are also part of a bigger effort, like a class, when they teach the class for the entire spring semester and the spring break portion is just like a field trip.”

He said during their time spent abroad students take courses in English. When it comes to interacting with locals, Schubert recommends that students learn some basic words in the country’s language. 

“You don’t have to be fluent in the language, you don’t have to be able to say everything you want to say in the local language, but a lot of locals really appreciate it if you know at least how to say please and thank you, he said.”

Schubert said doing research about the local culture before visiting is important.

“I think this helps if you show up and you know a little bit about the place and you’re not completely uninformed or completely lost and you have to ask all these questions on site because that will likely make it a little bit more difficult,” he said. “People are much, much more willing to connect with you when you have something in common or when you ask very specific questions about their culture.”