On Oct. 8, Lawrence University’s Off-Campus Programs office held the first meeting of their virtual fair, which will continue through Oct. 22. These meetings, held over Zoom due to the COVID-19 pandemic, contain both program-specific information and general information for applying to study off-campus.
According to Lezlie Weber, the director of Off-Campus Programs, most events are program-specific, but there are also sessions on the general application process itself as well as on scholarships. Thursday’s kickoff event featured a general overview of Off-Campus Programs, the application processes and scholarships, as well as a question and answer (Q&A) session and student highlights from previous off-campus studies.
In addition, there are numerous upcoming program-specific events. On Wednesday, Oct. 14, there are three presentations: for SEA Semester; for the Shanghai, China program and a meeting for ISA programs — that is, Granada, Spain; Rome, Italy; and Buenos Aires, Argentina. On the following day, there will be meetings for studying in Athens, in Japan and in India. The Oct. 20 meetings will be about the programs in Jordan, Morocco and Costa Rica. Finally, the fair will conclude with an Institute for the International Education for Students Abroad Info Session and Q&A, which covers studying in the following countries: the Netherlands, New Zealand, Germany, Ireland, Italy, France, Spain, Austria, Ecuador, Chile and Japan.
Off-Campus Programs also has virtual office hours Monday through Thursday in the event that students are unable to make it to the fair but require more information or advice the with the study abroad application. Appointments can also be made through the Off-Campus Programs website.
If the promise of important, pertinent information about studying abroad isn’t enough, the Off-Campus Programs office is providing another reason to attend: prizes. In past years, the office of Off-Campus Programs has provided pizza at the fair. That cannot be done now due to COVID-19 and the virtual nature of the fair this year; thus, Off-Campus Programs is entering every participant into a giveaway, of which prizes include a $50 Amazon gift card. Each session attended means another entry into the giveaway.
“We can’t do pizza, but we can do prizes,” Weber said.
Registration for the Off-Campus Programs fair, as well as Zoom links for virtual office hours, can be found on the office’s website.