UNH Student Becca Olivo Sails Around the World with Semester at Sea

Wildcasts Join 570 College Students on Global Study-Abroad Program

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DURHAM, NH (05/11/2012)(readMedia)-- Becca Olivo of North Providence is one of 10 University of New Hampshire students among nearly 570 students that sailed this spring with Semester at Sea (SAS), the U.S. shipboard program for study abroad.  It is a 105 day voyage to 12 countries around the globe.  This 108th voyage of Semester at Sea departed Nassau, The Bahamas on Jan.19 and has since traveled to Dominica, Brazil, Ghana, South Africa, Mauritius, India, Singapore, Vietnam, China, Japan, and Hawaii.  The voyage ended in San Diego, Calif. on May 2.

SAS students use the world as a classroom, studying on a ship fitted with classrooms, a computer lab, and even the world's largest floating library. In each port city, students travel alongside their professors to locations and destinations that directly relate to course material. SAS students get the unique opportunity to see the world from a floating campus while earning college credit from their courses on the ship.

"I thought I was going to miss my family more, but it was different-I just wanted them to be here and experience all this with me," Becca Olivo said of her Semester at Sea experience. "I thought that I grew so much as a person and I was able to appreciate everything so much more-I just wanted to share that so everybody I knew could have the same level of appreciation for things. SAS has definitely challenged me a lot more than I thought-challenges in class, outside the classroom, in every single port. It was great."

Semester at Sea® is a premier global study abroad program based in the United States. Since it began in 1963, more than 45,000 college students and lifelong learners have participated in the program, which travels more than 60,000 nautical miles around the world each year. During its 45-year history, Semester at Sea has made 99 voyages and has achieved a number of significant milestones, including groundbreakingvisits to countries such as the former Soviet Union, China, Vietnam, Cuba, and Myanmar. Participants have met with prominent leaders including Fidel Castro, Anwar Sadat, Indira Gandhi, Mikhail Gorbachev, Corazon Aquino, Sidi Mohammed, Mother Teresa, Bishop Desmond Tutu, and Nelson Mandela.