When she filled out an application to study at Syracuse University, Lillian Tsegaye clicked a box on the screen indicating she’d like to study abroad. What she didn’t realize was that she’d do so in just a matter of months.

The Boston native, who grew up in Ethiopia, is one of 50 students who spent the fall semester of their freshman year at one of three SU Abroad centers through the Discovery Program. First-semester students like Tsegaye took advantage of the opportunity to study introductory courses at centers in Florence, Italy; Strasbourg, France; and Madrid, Spain.

After starting their undergraduate experience halfway across the world, the Discovery students arrived at University Hill at the start of the spring semester. A majority of their peers acclimated to SU’s academic standards and the central New York weather last fall. Now, a month into the semester with midterms on the horizon, these students find themselves experiencing culture shock all over again.

When Tsegaye, an international relations major, received an acceptance letter indicating she qualified for a grant to participate in the Florence program, she was hesitant to go. She liked to travel. She spent a year of high school in South Africa. But she wanted to assimilate to Syracuse quickly.

Her parents pushed back: This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Go.

She eventually decided that being in a new environment with no concrete foundation would help her learn to operate on her own.

“I feel like it brings out the immediate reality that you’re no longer a child living under dependency … you’re an adult,” Tsegaye said. “Going to Florence for me really helped me establish that.”

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While abroad, students in the program take mandatory courses to help them adjust to life in their respective country. These include introductory liberal arts courses, courses relevant to their new environment and electives. They live with host families, and many visit neighboring countries.

As she transitions to college life in the United States, Tsegaye said the SU environment is more academically driven than what she experienced in Italy.

“I used to call Florence (a) paid vacation because we didn’t do as much work but we had the same amount of credits, and it was more of a lax environment,” she said. “Whereas here you don’t get to go out as often, and the weather really does put a damper on a lot of things.”

Sierra Mortimer, a freshman biology major from Ephrata, Pennsylvania, also spent her first semester in Florence. Mortimer’s mother, Melissa, said she encouraged her daughter to take advantage of the abroad program because it fosters independence and maturity.

Mortimer is now taking five classes, including one on Friday. She’s not used to Friday classes, as she didn’t have any in Italy.

“It’s getting better every week,” Mortimer said of her adjustment to SU. “The first week was very disorienting … being in a class, a bunch of classes all week long was hard.”

Making friends, Mortimer said, is also harder at SU. The classes are bigger than those in Florence, and students typically leave as soon as professors dismiss the class, leaving no time to interact with classmates afterward.

Tsegaye said her first experience entering a large lecture hall with dozens of students was daunting.

“Those smaller classes over in Florence definitely made it easier to participate, which is kind of where I lack in some of my others classes (on the SU campus),” Mortimer said. “When they are so big and there are so many people I don’t know, it’s just like, ‘No, it’s OK, you guys can talk. I’ll just sit back and listen.’”

Courtesy of Lou Delmarsh

The average size of a Discovery Program class is 14-20 students per location, said Lou Lou Delmarsh, an academic adviser for the College of Arts and Sciences. Delmarsh has been working with the Discovery students since the fall 2017 semester.

After the Discovery students return from abroad, Delmarsh and other administrators make efforts to keep the group close. The first weekend of this semester, the Office of First Year and Transfer Programs organized a lunch event for returning and past program participants. Last week, Delmarsh organized a Valentine’s Day pizza party for Discovery students and program alumni.

Liliana Schoenke, a sophomore selected studies in education major from Los Angeles, participated in the Florence program last year. She said she’s been able to make valuable connections thanks to her involvement with the Discovery program.

She met a program alumna who introduced her to First Year Players — a performance group for freshmen not studying drama — at a lunch event for Discovery students. The alumna, Katie Conti, suggested Schoenke and a friend audition for FYP. Both got into the program, and now they’re roommates.

Schoenke was elated during her first few weeks on campus, she said. But she wasn’t used to the cold weather, and she found herself frustrated that she couldn’t relate to her freshman peers. There wasn’t any common ground since she’d been in Italy for a semester and they hadn’t studied abroad.

Still, Delmarsh has high hopes for this group in and out of the classroom. She said their decision to study abroad their first semester demonstrates the courage Discovery students possess, and she’s confident this courage will help them adjust to SU’s Main Campus now.

“I love that students are worldly, multilingual … that they are brave, outgoing and willing to meet and make new friends,” Delmarsh said. “They’ve done so well over there. And I know they are going to do well over here.”

Published on February 21, 2018 at 12:46 am

Contact Satoshi: ssugiyam@syr.edu | @SatoshiJournal