Senior Jenn Gali has loved her semesters at Ashland University. However, beginning next semester, she will be seeing different scenery, as she will be one of the many students participating in the Southern Internship Program, based in both Florida and South Carolina.

Gali said that since she has had many field experiences at AU, she is looking forward to something different.

“I decided to go just because it’s a new experience, and I’ve had six field experiences here, and I want to broaden my field experience,” she said.

In order for Gali, and the other students, to study abroad next semester, she had to turn in many essays and applications. First, she had to apply to student teach, and then write essays and fill out an application to study with the Southern Internship Program.

Graduate Amber Gindlesberger also participated in the program last spring before graduating. She received her degree in integrated language arts, with a minor in English. She said the internship was a great opportunity, and she is very grateful that she went.

“The Southern Internship Program helped me in more ways than I can describe,” she said. “First and foremost, it took me from my comfort zone and threw me into an unfamiliar and slightly terrifying situation. Being away from everything I understood and knew helped my confidence to grow tenfold. It taught me how to live a life that was truly satisfying, and wanting to wake up each day to teach.”

Although through the same program, Gindlesberger only studied in Florida for six weeks, whereas Gali will also study in South Carolina.

Gindlesberger said there were many things about the program that she liked. She said the lessons she learned and the experiences she gained were both frightening and amazing.

“The experience of being away from home taught me so much about myself, as a teacher, and as a person,” she said. “I was learning how to live independently… how to navigate on my own.”

Gindlesberger also said one of her favorite parts was being able to go to Disney World, free of charge on the weekends, and make memories with her host family, her “home away from home.”

Dr. Joseph Hendershott is the main coordinator for the program. He selects the students, the locations, the host families and prepares all other details of the trip. Gindlesberger praised his work, and said that he did a wonderful job while she studied abroad, and recommends the program to other students.

“I think the Southern Exchange program is an amazing opportunity that more students should take advantage of,” she said. “Mr. Hendershott was an excellent mentor throughout my experience… [He] has carefully crafted and created a wonderful and life changing experience.”

Gali said she is most looking forward to the memories she will make while in Celebration, Fla. She also said that she is excited to experience a new way of teaching.

“[I’m excited for] the experience and seeing how they teach down there compared to how we teach in Ohio,” she said.

Gindlesberger is currently the seventh grade language arts teacher at the Ashland Middle School in Ashland, Ohio. She said that the Southern Internship Program helped her immensely, and that other students should try it as well. Although she loves her job in Ashland, she plans to someday move to the South again to be a teacher because that is where she feels the most at home.

“This was the best experience I have ever experienced,” she said. “I had the time of my life and felt happier in the South than I ever did in my 21 years of life in the North. It teaches you so much about life, and you have a blast doing it.”