Weinberg junior Ainsley Lauer, who is currently studying in Copenhagen, said she is ready to return to the U.S. and take a break from travel. Lauer said she doesn’t have any special plans to go anywhere over the holidays.

“I think after a lot of travel while studying abroad, it’ll be nice to not travel for a while,” she said.

Lauer said traveling during the academic semester was a big part of her study abroad experience. Many of her classes incorporated visiting and exploring various countries and cities neighboring Copenhagen, Lauer said.

She also visited a friend in Paris and toured Spain with a native Spanish speaker to get a more authentic experience, she said. 

“We have a lot of different breaks and also travel with our class built in,” Lauer said. “I went to London, and then a city in western Denmark with my class. And then while some other classes were traveling, we had the week off, and I went to Spain and Portugal.”

NU offers over one hundred study abroad programs through the University directly and through other universities. Depending on the program, some follow NU’s academic calendar and others follow more of a semester system schedule, ending closer to the end of December. 

Weinberg junior Ved Muthusamy is studying abroad at the University of Oxford in England. He said he has had no time for travel in between studying. The academic calendar at Oxford consists of intense eight week terms. 

Muthusamy said he plans to stay in England for a week after his term ends to travel.

“If it’s Oxford, they make it hard to travel during the (term), but obviously after that, then you’re kind of free,” Muthusamy said.

Medill junior Juliet Allan is studying in Madrid on the semester system. She said the biggest difference that sticks out to her is that the semester system can feel long and drawn out. 

“(Studying abroad) made me appreciate the fast-paced nature of Northwestern’s quarter system, even though it gets some flack sometimes,” Allan said.

As Allan plans to return to Northwestern and the quarter system in January, she said she is excited to first spend time visiting different parts of Europe before visiting her family for Christmas. 

She added that not being able to participate in campus activities is something that made her appreciative of her time abroad and excited for her return to NU. 

“(My favorite part of studying abroad) is the duality of having an incredible time (abroad), learning so much, and the opportunity to bring home everything that you learned, while also having this renewed appreciation for everything that you missed while you were away,” Allan said.

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