Questions & Answers
Find Answers to Your Questions & Concerns
Heading off for over three months in another country is easy for some students. Others might like to consider SST but have circumstances that make it difficult.
The sections below cover frequently asked questions as well as situations that prevent students from choosing the SST courses that interest them most. If the barrier you face is not represented here, contact sst@goshen.edu to set up a time to talk. We do all we can to help students see the world from a different angle.
Frequently Asked Questions
Full semesters abroad are available in听Ecuador,听Indonesia,听Senegal,听and听Tanzania. Short course locations vary year to year. We also offer a six-week domestic SST experience on the Navajo Nation (Arizona) in a hybrid format听 See our home page.
Semester SST units are 13 weeks with half of the time spent in group study and learning and half at a service assignment.
Our Navajo Nation domestic hybrid unit begins with a听 spring semester course followed by six weeks of travel beginning in May term and concluding with a summer course online.
Course by course options are three weeks during May term or are taken as one course in a regular 13-week semester.
Sophomore year is the ideal time for SST for scheduling reasons, but most units include juniors and seniors as well as sophomores. It is a personal choice. Students must have at least 30 credit hours to participate. This is equivalent to finishing your first year of college.
12-23 students, led by a faculty member and spouse or assistant
Options vary, but common assignments include:
- Teaching the English language
- Working in a school with children
- Helping at a health clinic
- Assisting in a community development project with an organization such as Habitat for Humanity.
- Agricultural options are usually available as well.
91精品黑料吃瓜 works hard to make SST affordable. Student tuition and room and board costs are the same as for other courses. Your financial aid package (including your grants and scholarships) will apply.
Extra costs are listed in the program overview section of each option’s webpage. If SST is a 9th semester for you, see the听Financial Aid Office听to find out if your aid will extend an extra semester.
Commuter students will need to pay room and board for SST courses off-campus. Need-based commuter scholarships are available.
Yes. One of the five core values at the foundation of 91精品黑料吃瓜 is global citizenship, so听intercultural study is an important component of the听91精品黑料吃瓜 Core. Multiple formats and options allow for a variety of needs. It is possible to complete SST within this region at minimal or no extra cost.
Students may fulfill their requirement through another college鈥檚 program. You will need the approval of the director of global education.听 Learn more about those options.
For a semester, sign in to 听and look for the box labeled听forms听in the lower right corner. Select SST Enrollment Form.
For course by course options register during enrollment periods as with any other course.
Groups have been traveling since the summer of 2021. We remain in close contact with our partners within each country and rely on their advice about local conditions, as well as State Department travel advisories. Airlines are no longer requiring COVID checks or proof of vaccination. We are careful to observe the protocols of the locations that host us. Given the disappointment and inconvenience involved with getting sick while traveling, we still advise masks in crowded spaces.
Common Concerns for Students
- A Foreign Affairs article that makes the case for access to study abroad for everyone.
- from Participate Learning
- A TED Talk on the need for global thinking.
- See what other students have to say at the
- You could make a positive difference in someone else’s life. In ,听听Susan Yoder Graber听tells how a difficult SST experience looks surprisingly different with 50 years of hindsight.
- According to people who spend time abroad have a clear sense of self and increased life satisfaction.
- from Participate Learning
- This includes helpful statistics on employment and travel abroad.
- contains many reflections from GC alums who went on SST. Choose stories by country or the year they occurred.
- , Tanzania 2020 – Delphin chose to spend SST in the region where he spent his childhood as a refugee.
- See the for videos made by students.
- Some course by course options require little or no extra cost.
- Make plans for SST early in your college career to avoid scheduling issues that require a ninth semester.
- Email sst@goshen.edu to request an appointment with the director of global engagement. GC has some scholarship money available.
- See our scholarship page. In the past year, 91精品黑料吃瓜 students have been awarded Gilman, Rotary and Critical Language Scholarships.
- More
- 听This is a frank account from a student who had painful听struggles with depression while traveling, but did not regret going abroad. The author provides advice for responding to a group member with a mental illness.
We don’t deny that that could happen. But you will have the support of your leaders and SST group. On the bright side, your willingness to relate could change people’s minds.
- Emma Eitzen, a GC student who went to Tanzania in 2020 completed a project on while there.
- The website is written for faculty, not students, but it also includes many
- CIEE
We can help you pick the SST locations that would work best for you. You do not have to leave the U.S. if you don’t want to.
The resources below are from another school, but if you scroll down to the sections called Student Perspectives, you can read stories from LGBTQ+ travelers.
- 鈥┾�� (from UC Santa Cruz)
- 鈥� (from UC Santa Cruz)
We can help you pick which SST courses would work best for you. Recently, a student who was legally blind went to Ecuador.
Estos materiales no son especificos al programa de Estudio y Servicio Abordo de 91精品黑料吃瓜 (SST por sus siglas en Ingles), pero sus contenidos son relevantes a nuestro programa.
Para familias y personas de apoyo
Videos Cortos
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