Claire Loudis, a junior film production major, was studying abroad in Japan during spring 2020 when her program was cut short due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. While this came as a devastating hit to Chapman’s students studying abroad that year, Loudis said she still got the most of her experience during her mere three months in the program.

Reminiscing on one of the most memorable moments, Loudis recalled taking a bus to Osaka to spend some of her last days abroad in an Airbnb with some new friends. They took day trips to surrounding cities and fell upon a small town called Tottori, which is famous for its sand dunes and pears.

“That day, we had fresh fish and pear ice cream,” Loudis said. “It was so cool to be there and be pretty much the only foreigners in this town. It was a really incredible experience.”

After three semesters since Chapman University’s Center for Global Education pressed pause on study abroad programs, the group hosted its biannual fair Sept. 21 to educate students about their programs and hopefully send them overseas as early as January 2022.

This anticipated return comes almost two years after the last batch of study abroad students were sent home due to pandemic restrictions. With 15 booths and a churro stand, the fair offered information on everything from travel courses to graduate teaching programs.

Applications for the fall 2022 semester programs are open now and due by Dec. 3. There are also 10 interterm travel courses being offered this coming January, with applications due by Oct. 21.

“We’re monitoring the U.S. Department of State travel advisories and the CDC travel advisories,” Jodi Hicks, the associate director for the Center of Global Education, said. “We are planning (for) students to go abroad in 2022. However, with the state of the world changing quickly, we’re just monitoring everything.”

Students were supposed to be able to study abroad by spring 2021, but all programs were canceled due to continued COVID-19 concerns. With many countries beginning to lift their travel bans, interterm abroad programs are currently slated to depart in early January, while semester-long programs are returning in spring 2022, with applications now open. Hicks said the Center for Global Education is  working with program partners to ensure safety for students through a series of health protocols and potential social distancing.

“Do everything you can to try to go, whether it be now or later on,” urged Loudis. “(It’s) important (to) really savor everyday that you are studying abroad, because frankly, you never know when you’re gonna get like a 48-hour notice that you have to leave. Just try to make the most of your time spent there.”

Students can pick from thousands of programs in hundreds of different countries to participate in and earn credits towards their degree.

“I think Spain is my number one choice,” said Chris Kruki, a junior computer science major.  “I’m taking Spanish right now, and that’s the main second language people learn in America, and I think that’s somewhere I can get more used to — at least language-wise — because you have to learn it to immerse yourself out there.”

Loudis, who studied Japanese throughout high school and college before going abroad, attested to this sentiment.

“I think there’s no better way to learn a language than to study abroad,” Loudis said. “The amount of Japanese that I learned when I was there was exponential compared to how much I learned in my semester of taking Japanese here in the U.S.”

However, getting to explore different countries and learn other languages aren’t the only benefits to traveling abroad. Hicks stresses the importance of students getting to know the culture of the country they’re traveling to as well as getting to know the cultures of their surrounding peers on these programs.

“It’s really important, because later in life, (students are) going to be working with and collaborating with people of diverse backgrounds from all over, and so this is kind of a starting point with that,” Hicks said.

Students can sign up for a Global First Steps session to learn more about the programs, and they can also subscribe to the Center for Global Education’s monthly newsletter to follow updates and upcoming deadlines.

Correction: An earlier version of this article mistakenly reported that semester-long programs were returning this fall. They are returning in the spring.