Junior year. The year of highschool, often seen as fundamental, burdened by endless activities, exams, and the everpresent stress of college. Some Piedmont students, however, are choosing to opt out of the “typical” junior experience and are instead venturing across oceans to pursue their academic interests in new, foreign, environments.
“I just wanted to do something new,” sophomore Elisha Bell said.
Bell is one of several sophomores choosing to pursue a semester, or longer, abroad. She will be enrolled in a program through Student Year Abroad, in Viterbo, Italy during her junior year, and will attend a school for American students while living with an Italian host family.
Bell, who has been attending Piedmont schools since kindergarten, said that the reason behind her decision to study abroad was the desire for change before leaving for college.
“I’m looking forward to meeting my host family and really getting to know a new set of people,” Bell said.
Sophomore Bryson Cheney is another student who will be going abroad for his junior and senior year.
Cheney was recently awarded the Davis Scholarship. Through this award Cheney was granted a scholarship to a study abroad program as a part of the United World Colleges (UWC) system. Based on Cheney’s application, Norway was chosen as his location of residency.
Aside from his academic interests in the program, Cheney said that one of his motivations to study abroad was a want for new experiences and cultures.
“Honestly I think it was just based on a desire to meet new people, because here in Piedmont it’s kind of a bubble,” Cheney said. “I’ve known a third of the people here since first grade, and the rest of them since sixth.”
A longing for exposure and immersion into new cultures and experiences was what partially drove senior Ellie Broscow to study abroad. Last year, during the spring semester of her junior year, Broscow traveled to Israel to study in Hod Hasharon at Alexander Muss High School.
“The program for me was less of a focus on academics, and more really being in a country and learning about the place, so in a way, it allowed me almost a little bit of a break my second semester junior year,” Broscow said.
Broscow said another reason she decided to study abroad was because of the competitive and comparative college culture at Piedmont.
“One of the reasons I chose that time is because I know at Piedmont, second semester junior year, it’s a lot of talk about college, it’s a lot of stress,” Broscow said, “I didn’t want that.”
Broscow said that while in Israel, she never thought about college, and was grateful for the break from that pressure in her spring semester.
“I felt Piedmont was very insular and I felt a lot of stress, and I wanted a way to sort of escape that for a bit and learn about a different culture,” Broscow said. “It was like this completely fleeting experience to be in a country where college is not really as much of a norm.”
Instead of focusing on college, Broscow said she prioritized being present in her experiences, which is something she felt that she didn’t practice entirely when she was in Piedmont.
“I wanted an experience where I could figure out what I’m like away from Piedmont, away from everything I’ve ever known,” Broscow said. “I think sometimes in Piedmont I felt like I was put into a box, and in Israel, where nobody knew who I was, nobody knew my history, I felt like I could be so much more of myself.”
During her time in Israel, Broscow said she developed new connections with friends who remain a big part of her life today. However, she also found more than just new friendships during her time abroad.
“I found more of what I actually am. It wasn’t like I changed, but I realized things about myself that I didn’t realize before,” Broscow said.
