“Study abroad if you can, you’re never going to travel this way again,” said Jaedon Wilson, a senior at Indiana University Bloomington majoring in international relations with a minor in French and business.

Danielle Samek, senior adviser at the Indiana University in Bloomington’s Office of Overseas Study took time on July 11 to talk to the group of students at the college’s High School Journalism Institute about the growing interest in study abroad programs as well as the never ending academic and personal benefits that come from participating in these programs.

While it is important to look to future growth and benefits of study abroad programs, Samek pointed out that it’s equally important to note that IU has been a leader in overseas study since the first students and faculty took a walking tour of Europe in the 1800s.

Since that initial group …
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By Morgan Taylor, Crown Point HS

Opinion Writing

Studying abroad can be a nerve-racking experience for anyone, but for members of the LGBTQ+ community it’s much harder. Being gay in the United States is tough enough, but other cultures are far less progressive and accepting of the gay community. I really appreciate that Indiana University takes the nonconformists who want to study abroad into account to ensure that they have the most enjoyable experience possible.

Being a member of the LGBTQ+ community has been an uphill battle for me my whole life. I have a hard enough time being myself in my home country, so thinking about studying abroad can be quite frightening. Starting from the beginning I always had a hard time coming to terms with who I was. Bisexuality can sometimes be construed as a myth. People who don’t understand …
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By Catherine Segreto, Bishop Watterson High School

Opinion Writing

Cecil Baldwin, the voice of Welcome to Night Vale, performs at a live show in Chicago, Illinois.

Hidden in the vast expanse of the desert Southwest lies a small town where every conspiracy theory has come to life. The foreboding walls of the dog park discourage any and all dog owners from entering, a hoard of angels mysteriously lingers above Old Woman Josie’s house, and the Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your Home mercilessly raids the refrigerator.

However strange they may sound, each of these peculiarities happens to be perfectly normal in the town of Night Vale. Dutifully reporting every new occurrence is Cecil Gershwin Palmer, the sole broadcaster at the local radio station. Despite the regular “disappearances” of his interns and the erratic behavior of his …
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By Giovanni Roman, Pritzker College Prep

Opinion Writing

Chicago , Illinois, home to thousands of homicides year round, has been gaining attention, not only nationwide, but worldwide, because of its increasing gun violence. Chicago’s gun violence has been an ongoing problem for the past years, with over 2,000 shooting incidents in 2016, the number in 2017 by April has been 1,000, half of the shooting’s in 2016 in under three months.

Photo taken by Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times 

Chicago’s gun violence is seen as a gang-violence or gang related problem, when in reality it goes back to a educational problem. Chancelor Bennett, better known as “Chance the Rapper”, a grammy-award winning artist, in an interview where he donates one million dollars to Chicago Public Schools, and an additional ten thousand dollars to ten high schools, states “Today I am proud to announce that …
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Alice Cooper’s The Rock Teen Center opening in 2012 in Tucson, Arizona. Photographer unknown

By Christopher Berryman, Rincon High School

Opinion Writing

Alice Cooper, considered the godfather of shock rock, is still rockin’ and not in a chair on his front porch.

The 69 year old rocks. With his band.  They don’t just jam out, but they put on a whole show using props such as guillotines, electric chairs, and giant puppets.

Cooper and his band have outlived other ʼ70’s bands because of the entertaining music, shows, his connection to the audience, and he cleaned up his life.

In Tucson, Arizona, Cooper sold out his show at the AVA Amphitheatre, for and old time rock artist the crowd did not seem to reflect the age of the artist. He didn’t just change the music of his time but he still finds ways to …
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A study abroad student explores Park Güell in Barcelona, Spain.

HSJI, the high school journalism institute at Indiana University held a press conference on July 11, 2017 at 7:00 pm, speaker Danielle Samek, senior study abroad advisor, told the students that studying abroad is safe. “The safety of our students while traveling abroad is of the utmost importance to the university.” If your number one priority is safety, then why are some people getting hurt? All I see on the news about students studying abroad is how they die and get injured. But then again, in a newsroom your worse day is their best day.

“With everything that is going on in the world, you can never ensure safety.” Samek walked around in her dark gray blazer.

IU has 2,800 students studying abroad, and there are over 380 study …
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The story of Queen Isabella is one that empowers young women today. Queen Isabella was such an inspiring character in history and the author, Kirstin Downey, does a great job in capturing the struggles and successes of Isabella living and ruling as a women in the 1400s. 

“Isabella: The Warrior Queen” is a well researched biography that describes in great detail the life of Queen Isabella of Castile.

One thing that stuck with me throughout the story was how Isabella managed to hold power and create big change. Gender stereotypes and inequality have always been present and Downey writes how Isabella was originally thought to not be intelligent enough to rule. This didn’t stop Isabella though. With a Borgia connection and dedication she was able to achieve so many great things in her lifetime that others before her couldn’t.

Isabella was …
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By Catherine Segreto, Bishop Watterson High School

Opinion Column

A city street in Aix-en-Provence, France, one of IU’s most popular sites for studying abroad.

Something about the grandeur of “studying abroad,” the idea that an individual can experience the lifestyle of a completely different culture, has resonated with each incoming college class. Whether a plucky young architecture major wants to explore the columns of Rome, or a history buff longs to taste the salty air of the Mediterranean, overseas studies have an appeal for everyone. The ability to learn in such remarkable places is an opportunity that should not be taken lightly, but rather utilized and appreciated by all.

Such is the mindset of Danielle Samek, Indiana University’s Senior Study Abroad Adviser. Samek is heavily involved in the IU Office of Overseas Study, which serves as the university’s primary …
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