Spring semester ended in a whirlwind, but it was an enjoyable whirlwind at that.  So many things on campus were happening as May approached that made finding time to do anything outside of schoolwork and school-related activities difficult.  Highlights included The Big Event (OUs Official Day of Community Service), Sooner Scandals (Outstanding musical theatre-esque performances put on by groups from around campus), and, while I wouldn’t exactly call it a highlight, mountains of time spent writing end of the semester papers, completing assignments, and studying for tests. I also enjoyed being able to walk a little south of the dorms to watch OU Baseball or Basketball games when we found a little spare time. It was great fun participating in or going to watch things like this as the school year wound down.

My grades turned out very well making for happy parents and a great beginning of the summer. I’ve traveled a bit, taking a small trip to Colorado and some other minor trips around the state, but what’s been most astounding to me is all of the places studies and service are taking people I met this year at OU!  Thanks to Facebook, I’ve seen pictures from all around the world. South Africa, Russia, Spain, France, Germany, England, China, and Chile are just a few of the places OU can send you! To be able to travel at this time in life is such a great thing, and the opportunities that OU and the OU Education Abroad Office allow you to realize are just one of the reasons you should strongly consider OU as you make a college decision.

Tomorrow around noon I’ll be boarding a flight to Houston. Just a few hours afterwards I’ll be on my way to Lima, Peru!  I’ll be there earning six hours of class credit in a time span of just under a month. The way this program (OU Journey to Latin America) is set up is pretty neat.  For the first two weeks I’ll be staying with a host family in Lima, taking classes taught by an OU professor in the morning at a local university followed by activities in the city later that afternoon that relate directly to or confer greater understanding upon what we learned earlier that day, but in an enjoyable way! I wish I could earn all of my college credit this way! The second two weeks of the trip take the group to Cuzco, the Andes Moutains, Machu Picchu, and the Amazon!  I’ll be recording film footage and taking pictures the whole way, so check back for a later blog post that will talk all about the trip!

I’ve heard President Boren speak about how one of his many goals for the future of this university is to make a study abroad experience an integral part of every OU student’s education.  Come here and be a part of the beginning of a Sooner global tradition!