MUNCIE, Ind.--- According to the Ball State Department of Modern Languages and Classics, Ball State has more than 200 study abroad and exchange programs. This year, they’re adding one more.
“I think study abroad gets this reputation for being really costly with a whole bunch of electives and things like that,” Director of Study Abroad Ashley Coker said. “BSU-in is not that, right, instead it is an affordable, accessible program that is going to be immersive in nature.”
According to Coker, the first BSU-in experience will be in Puebla, Mexico, in the city of Chulola.
Coker says that Puebla was chosen for multiple reasons, including the scenery, architecture and rich culture.
“BSU-in is truly a Ball State semester abroad, so by that I mean it’s Ball State professors, Ball State classes and Ball State students,” Coker said. “[It] could be a bigger cohort of 30 to 50 students all going to the same location abroad.”
The program is first come first serve and meant to be non-selective as long as students are in good academic standing.
“I love BSU-in so much, it’s one of those programs where instead of being like a an entirely foreign abroad experience, it’s like a home away from home,” Peer Ambassador Zoe Pointer said.
Pointer’s role as Peer Ambassador is to visit classrooms and meet with other students. This helps make BSU-in more accessible.
Unlike other study abroad programs Ball State offers, BSU-in is tailored to be as affordable as a Ball State semester.
“It’s genuinely one of the coolest ways to learn things that you never thought you’d understand just by being somewhere else and talking to people from other culture, at least with the study abroad aspect of immersive learning,” Pointer said.
For more information on the BSU-in study abroad program, go to bsu.edu/studyabroad.
Contact Emma Matlock with comments at emma.matlock@bsu.edu.
