Students Find Study Away Program Makes a World of Difference

Nestor Cardenas never imagined himself studying abroad.

“As a commuter and non-traditional student, I always thought those trips were for younger undergrads who followed a traditional route. I didn’t think of it as something for someone like me,” said Cardenas, who graduated from Rutgers University–Newark and is earning his masters degree in Education.

But through Rutgers-Newark’s Study Away program, led by the Office for Global Initiatives and Experiential Learning, Cardenas has been to Africa, Belize, Nepal and Ecuador.He also joined a winter camping trip in the woods of New Hampshire.

Studying abroad, or roughing it in the New England wilderness, where it was ten degrees below zero, was definitely for someone like him.

“These programs eat away at the imposter syndrome,” he said. “They’re very challenging mentally and physically, but once you’ve completed one, everything else seems easy. I’m not saying it’s like boot camp. But if you were struggling with something here, it makes you think about why you’re struggling and what can you can do to do better.’’’

The Study Away program, which started in 2018, is for everyone, but especially geared toward students who are the first in their families to attend college and might be  working or caring for relatives.

“Some programs make students feel like they don’t belong. We want ours to feel like they deserve this experience, and to build the confidence that they can contribute to global conversation,’’ said Clayton Walton,director of the Office of Global Initiatives and Experiential Learning.

“One of the things that we’ve spent the last seven years doing is understanding that there’s a population of students that aren’t thinking of study away as an option. We’ve been able to reduce a lot of barriers to entry,’’ he added. “Some of our students can’t take off for extended periods of time, so we design experiences that give them a cultural connection and a professional pathway without overwhelming them.''

Students don’t join the program expecting gondola rides in Venice or picnics in Provence. The goal is not tourism but immersion—building cultural understanding, strengthening teams, and connecting students’ academic interests with meaningful global issues, said Walton.

“We’re not just on a safari,” he said. “We’re making sure our students are engaged with communities, gathering data, and thinking about how their work connects to research, graduate study, or future professions.”

Said Rutgers-Newark Vice Provost Luis Rivera, “The Office of Global Initiatives and Experiential Learning is a signature program that reflects our strategic commitment to equity, civic engagement, and global citizenship.”

Students work with partner organizations who are addressing issues like poverty, homelessness, climate change and vanishing cultures. The program now sends about 65 students each year. They contribute anywhere from under $1,000 to about $2,500, which they can arrange to pay back over time. Having to pay a portion of the costs themselves ensures they “have skin in the game,’’ said Walter.

“We need that level of commitment,” he said. 

Each participant goes through a two-interview process and an academic preparation phase, including research, and presentations on global issues they will encounter in the field, said Walton.

On the trip, they keep an academic blog and look at a series of current events and how they are shaping the region or the country where they’ll be staying. They suggest how their project would help create meaningful change and are encouraged to make a connection between the Study Away program and their plans for career or graduate school. 

Like Cardenas, some students travel to their families’ homeland for the first time. Cardenas' parents are from Ecuador, where he conducted ethnographic interviews with indigenous Kichwa speakers and researched ways to preserve a language at risk of being erased by the dominant Spanish-speaking culture. “This was a very good way to introduce me to what’s going on with the language and the people,’’ he said.

The experience gave Cardenas confidence to pursue graduate studies and a career supporting immigrant students. Jennifer Barrera, a third-year student majoring in marketing, also joined the Ecuador trip. Like Cardenas, her family is Ecuadorian, but she said the program gave her an entirely new perspective on her heritage.

She spent mornings helping with farm chores: cooking on a firewood stove, making tortillas, preparing jams and granola from berries, and feeding animals. She learned about water conservation, purification systems, and the collective knowledge passed down by community leaders. Both she and Cardenas learned the importance of working together and unplugging from technology.

“You’re away from a lot of comforts and technology, it brings you an awareness of your dependence on technology and that community and community building is a lot of work but is essential to build a sustainable society,’’ he said. 

Barrera discovered a deeper appreciation for her family members. “It brought me a lot of clarity in how my parents grew up,” she said. “It let me see my grandma in a new light. I cherish her just a little bit more because out of everyone, she still sticks to her old roots.”

The trip, Barrera added, reshaped her in many ways. “I grew personally, I grew as a student, and I grew as a daughter and granddaughter. It made me see how possible it is to explore new places and bring that learning back home.”