An African Safari, a trip to the Parthenon, and memories that will last a lifetime—just a few of the many perks that will come with Loyola’s two newest Study Abroad Programs in Cape Town, South Africa and Athens, Greece. The programs, which will be open to Loyola’s current sophomores, the class of 2017, will take them to two of the most popular study abroad destinations among competitor universities, says Kaileigh Jolliffe, a program coordinator in Loyola’s Office of International Programs.

The expansion of Loyola’s abroad oppor­tunities came about as the Office of Interna­tional Programs looked to expand it’s options in both Africa and Europe. That’s when Jolliffe and her co-worker Jessica Wassel began researching host universities in either continent. Wassel, now the coordinator for the Cape Town program, discovered the Uni­versity of Cape Town and was very pleased. “It seemed like a really great opportunity” says Jolliffe, “[there’s] a lot of great service opportunities there, it’s an English speaking country, it [was] very popular among students [and] the academics were there, so we really thought that’d be a great idea.”

As for the Athens, Greece program, of which Jolliffe is the coordinator, the simi­larity to the American school calendar and credit system was a definite plus. Courses are all three credits and won’t use up all the free electives of students with strict course sequences, and their calendar system allows students to return home in early May with plenty of time to begin work or internships. Much to the delight of the Office of Interna­tional Programs, students seem to be very excited about the two newest offerings, with information sessions bringing in plenty of prospective travelers.

Both Jolliffe and Wassel are equally ex­cited, having worked all summer putting everything together and also visiting the two new host cities. With great cultural ex­periences offered, the office hopes to send plenty of exicted students, but Joliffe points out, there’s one very important thing she hopes students return with.

“We hope…that they really immerse themselves in their host country, kind of adapt to that culture, take away new things…but the biggest thing we hope is that they really immerse themselves in the culture and bring that back with them. It’s really great to see the students when they come back and how much studying abroad has changed their life, how much they’ve grown, how much more independent they’ve become, so we really are hoping that they get that experience out of it as well.”

Applications for either program are due December 3 for the Class of 2017. For more information, visit www.loyola.edu/depart­ment/internationalprograms.

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