Keep in touch with Study Abroad

	Leslie Gerson Bordeaux, France 1968-69
		A Diplomatic Career Began with EAP Forty years ago I headed out to the Université de Bordeaux for what I thought would be my only experience living abroad. I had saved all my money from summer jobs to buy a VW beetle so that I could make the most of my experience. The year started inauspiciously with delayed school openings following the famous French riots, which even today are just called “les évènements” by all French citizens who were alive at the time. It also didn’t help that I was assigned to the men’s dormitory initially, but eventually things got sorted out and classes began. Little did I know that the shy, skinny 19-year-old and her beige VW beetle would leave Bordeaux a year later completely changed and that in September 2007 she would retire from a 29-year-career with the Foreign Service, driving that same car for almost the entire time! Read more of this and other alumni stories

Tell us how your study abroad experience has shaped your life! Send your story and photo to eapucsb@eap.ucsb.edu.

Mairead Donahey - Madrid, Spain 2007-08 Two friends and I got off the plane, heaved our piles of luggage onto carts and trudged out into the blazing summer heat of Madrid. We had the address of a hostel scribbled on a piece of paper stuffed in god-knows-which pocket of whose backpack and we began frantically blurting out words and gesturing to the bewildered taxi attendant where we wanted to go. This was the beginning of our journey abroad. Tackling that moment meant the ability to tackle anything, and soon we were finding apartments, traversing the city, meeting new people, and feeling ready to travel anywhere, and to do anything. And that’s really what studying abroad is about—realizing your potential in life and facing all the challenges it has to offer. During my year in Spain I conquered a second language, adapted to a new culture, found my way around myriad cities, and rediscovered myself. Now that I’m back in California, there is so much more I will do because I know that I can.		Mairead Donahey, a double-major in Philosophy and Spanish, will be entering law school at University of San Francisco in the fall. Read more student stories

Giving Back- EAP Alumni Scholarship

The need for EAP scholarship funds continues to grow! Over 60% of UC Santa Barbara undergrads are on financial aid. Although EAP students continue to be eligible for financial aid while they are studying abroad, the aid often does not cover all their expenses, especially in the face of a weak US dollar. Students also must forego their job income while on EAP.

This spring, the university?s EAP office received a record-breaking 73 scholarship applications requesting over $400,000 in scholarship funds. This tremendous unmet need is after applicants received their financial aid packages. Unfortunately, we were only able to grant about 11% of the funds requested. We know from experience that a number of these students will be
forced to withdraw from EAP due to financial hardship. Please help us ensure that all qualified UC Santa Barbara students will have the option of studying abroad by giving what you can to the EAP Scholarship Fund.

You can donate to the Alumni Scholarship Fund by using this form.

To learn more about giving opportunities or to host an EAP alumni event, contact Sudi Staub, Director of Development, 805-893-2190 or sudi.staub@ia.ucsb.edu.

 

EAP Events - All Gaucho Reunion

Nearly 50 UCSB EAP alumni gathered for a breakfast reception at the beautiful new Mosher Alumni House on a gorgeous day in April as part of the UCSB All Gaucho Weekend. What fun. Were you there??? Mark your calendars now for next year’s EAP event so you don’t miss out! April 25, 2009.
The morning was flavorful – and not just with good food. Informally, folks reminisced over coffee and breakfast treats and shared the impact EAP had in their life.
Many caught up with old friends and made new ones, expanding their EAP network.
A highlight of the reception was a lively interactive session where we all learned who studied where – from one end of the globe to the other; who had returned to their country of study; and who uses a foreign language today. A few prizes were earned for those who married another EAP participant or someone from their host country; who has a kid who is, has gone, or plans to go on EAP; who studied on the earliest Program; and who weathered through an EAP program that had some major upheaval or is now closed.
Bill Allaway, EAP’s founder and university-wide director for its first 30 years, shared anecdotes about China during the Tiananmen Square incident in the 80s when our program officially closed, but a few EAP students didn’t come home – and he saw them on TV serving as translators for CNN!
Want to help plan next year’s UCSB EAP reunion? Contact Valerie Swanson Eurman (Madrid '77-78), EAP Reunion Committee Chair, veurman@cox.net; (805) 683-1237.