By Alex Bulko
SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Study in America program announced
the locations for the upcoming 2018 trip, along with new changes to the
application process.
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| Program Assistant Niole Hengst Photo by Alex Bulko |
The program is aimed at teaching students how to report from
the field, while also trying to inspire more people to go out and explore the
world. The trip which was planned by Program Directors Dale Blasingame and Kym
Fox, will consist of seven stops, six of which will be various national and
state parks:
- Caprock Canyon State Park
- Santa Fe
- Grand Canyon National Park
- Zion National Park
- Mesa Verde National Park
- Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve
- Palo Duro Canyon State Park
“The Study in America program is overseen by the Office of
Extension,” said Nicole Hengst. Hengst helped with planning and served as
program assistant during last year’s excursion, and she may be helping with
this year’s trip as well.
“Students travelled for 14 days last summer,” said Hengst. “You
take classes before you travel and kind of get all prepped. You do your work as
you travel and while we’re visiting these amazing places. And then when you come
back you put everything together and present that to faculty and some special guests
we invite.”
Students who register for the class will travel to the parks
to not only learn about them, but to also report on their findings through
various media platforms such as Instagram, online blogs, or Twitter. The
published articles will be presented at the end of the trip for a grade, and
may even be featured by actual news outlets, like the San Antonio Express-News, or
the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department as promotional content.
“Some improvements that
were trying to make this year is really prepping before the trip to student are
more prepared when they go into the field,” said Hengst. “And also trying to
make more dedicated work time on the trip so that students are not just
scrambling at the end and trying to pull everything together.”
Students who wish to register for the class must be full mass
communications majors with a few prerequisite classes completed. Instructor
approval is required as well, and this year’s trip requires students to pass an
interview to attend.
“If anyone is interested in going on the trip they should
attend the interest meeting during Mass Comm Week.” Said Hengst. “We will soon
be announcing when applications will be available. So those will go up on the
SJMC website as well as the office of extension website. Applications will be
due sometime early in the spring semester, and we’ll set that deadline in the
future as well.”
The trip differs from other similar Study Abroad programs in
that students will be camping for most of the trip, which means students will stay
in tents and lodges, and will be required to help out with group chores, such
as putting up or tearing down camp, cleaning up and organizing, and cooking
too.
“It keeps costs down and makes it cost more efficient and
more available to students. But also, it’s just a completely different learning
experience than you would get traveling to another country.” said Hengst.
For more information, check out the program website.
You can also contact the program directors as well for more
details:
Dale Blasingame, blasingame@txstate.edu
Kym Fox, kfox@txstate.edu
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