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One of the last things Alana Joyce remembers seeing during her campus tour was a red banner proclaiming Loyola’s Rome Center. It stuck in her mind. Indeed, Loyola is a great place to embrace study abroad. With more than 100 programs in 55 countries, we offer students incredible opportunities to explore new cultures and come back with a much bigger world view. Once at Loyola, Alana took us up on that opportunity and did study abroad—in three different places during one year.

“I spent my summer in Tunisia, which was phenomenal and life-changing. I spent my fall semester in Australia at Griffith University which was quite an adventure, and I ended up going to the Rome Center last semester.” The Rome Center had extra appeal for her. “I’m an Italian citizen—I’m a dual citizen—so I got to work on my language skills there. Rome is beautiful, it’s incredible and it makes it so easy to study abroad since it’s connected with Loyola.”

Study abroad provides eye-opening experiences through cultural immersion—students study, explore, and acquire a new language, while steeped in the traditions of their host country. It grows students’ world views but also can help them clarify their educational choices. “Traveling to Tunisia really allowed me to understand what I wanted to focus on through political science,” Alana says. It also merged perfectly with her interdisciplinary international studies major and her Italian language and literature minor. Alana says study abroad has played a “huge” role in tying her education and experience together. Her end goal is now law school.

Loyola’s faculty members have helped, too. “Professors really open a lot of doors for you; they can make connections,” Alana says. She’s working on a graduate research project on post-revolutionary Tunisia with the professor who led her Tunisia trip. Another professor put her in touch with work on a political campaign.

A Loyola Jesuit education is about exploring what’s over the horizon. “It does push you to challenge yourself and to find things you didn’t know you’d do or be interested in before. I feel very well-rounded and I appreciate that from Loyola.”

The big picture—that’s what a Loyola education is all about. Loyola students travel and see the world, so that they can stand ready to address the issues of today’s global society.

For Tricia Gawlas, Loyola’s Ricci Scholars program allowed her to do just that. As a highly motivated student, Gawlas was awarded the scholarship for her entire junior year—and was able to spend one semester each at Loyola’s John Felice Rome Center and The Beijing Center for Chinese Studies.

For Gawlas, the study abroad experience pushed her to develop self-reliance and confidence—great leadership qualities. And, it gave her valuable new insights into our home culture. "China is such a different place than Chicago," says Gawlas. "China's government, economics, and way of thinking are so different than our own. If you try to understand them, America is going to make a lot more sense."

Working with Rome and Beijing professionals, Gawlas also began a research project on the localized marketing strategies of multinational corporations.

Did she miss a beat while abroad for a whole year? Nope. "I have been applying for internships, and employers love to hear that I've been abroad." In fact, she secured two Chicago summer internships—while she was still in China, via interviews on Skype. "My Ricci study abroad experience has really proved to be a resume-enhancing opportunity and something that I will value my whole life."

Close to graduation, Gawlas stands on the cusp of another great adventure: she plans to head to graduate school, or into an immediate career. Loyola has prepared her for either destination. She can speak with a global perspective, use the skills gained from her internships, and consult with her personal and professional international network.

Steeped in these Loyola experiences, Gawlas is confident and ready. "My options are still open, but my opportunities are endless."

Experts, scholars, practitioners—Loyola’s faculty in a nutshell. They are in the know, working and researching at the front of their fields. An impressive group to learn from, indeed.

Like Professor Nicole Ferentz, Loyola’s Director of Fine Arts and a visual communications instructor who also freelances in graphic design and paints and designs her own pieces. She gets to walk the exciting line between theory and current practice—and share it all with Loyola students.

Art in action is how you could describe Ferentz and the rest of Loyola’s fine arts faculty. Professional artists and scholars, they are passionate about their work and dedicated to inspiring students to achieve artistic excellence that can serve others. Their work can be seen in art galleries, theatres, and concert halls throughout the world—including Chicago.

Loyola’s creative home is at the heart of the fine arts, for pure enjoyment or academic study. A cultural hotspot, Chicago’s museums, concert halls, libraries, organizations—and its artists—are a vast resource for Loyola students in and out of the classroom. Students even find internships at some of the city’s most creative venues, preparing them to enter the creative world after graduation.

As experts in their fields, Loyola faculty members are keenly aware of career opportunities for students and the space for their talents in that world. Loyola students are uniquely poised for the world, says Ferentz. “There is a global appetite for design that did not exist in the past,” she notes. “Loyola students have an invaluable global perspective and are the best and brightest.” An impressive group to send off into the world, indeed.