A UF study abroad workshop series focused on helping students re-enter the country has expanded from five sessions to six.
Tessly Dieguez, a senior study abroad adviser at the UF International Center, said the addition of a sixth session allows for more time to emphasize community involvement and academic reintegration.
Dieguez started the program, called “Transitions,” last semester because she felt the UFIC’s single re-entry meeting wasn’t enough.
“I wanted to delve deeper into the students’ problems,” Dieguez said.
Ruben Jean, a 21-year-old UF civil engineering senior who studied abroad in Hong Kong last semester, said the extra session could fill the gap for UF students who didn’t travel with many other Gators.
“You could get a community of people who are going through the same thing,” Jean said.
Current study abroad student Sydney Goldstein, a 19-year-old UF business administration and French studies sophomore, said she would consider signing up when she returns to ease the readjustment process.
“Reverse culture shock is underestimated and often outright forgotten,” Goldstein said. “My biggest concern is that I will lose momentum and get stuck in a rut.”
[A version of this story ran on page 8 on 2/3/2014 under the headline "UF study abroad readjustment program gets broadened"]
