Learning in a classroom setting can be fun, but getting to see the world for class is so
much better. A study abroad experience can open students up to countless new possibilities.
They experience a sense of independence, understand new cultures and create long-lasting
relationships that would never happen without study abroad.
In 2024, the Murray State study abroad office prepared a program for first-generation students.
Two faculty and two staff members took 18 freshmen to experience London during Spring Break with a theater class taught by Dean David Balthrop and the JMC Department’s first university studies course, JMC 168 Media Literacy and Society, taught by Dr. Marcie Hinton.
The program was paid for with a grant from the Kentucky Innovative Scholarship Pilot
Project provided by the Kentucky Council of Post-secondary Education (CPE) and Kentucky
Higher Education Assistance Authority (KHEAA). Steven Guns, Director of the Education
Abroad program, found the grant and worked with Jennifer Smith, Assistant Director of the
Center for Student Engagement and Success, to take first-year, first-generation students abroad.
“Nearly 42% of our undergraduate population at Murray State is first-gen,” Smith said.
“Most first-gen students don’t travel abroad because they think it’s cost-prohibitive. When you
don’t have parents who had grand experiences at college, their students aren’t aware of those experiences either. First-generation students don’t have the benefit of parents who know about
study abroad or how they might be able to afford it.” Many of the students involved said they never thought the opportunity would be possible for them.
“Studying abroad made me realize that I definitely want to keep traveling and leave
the country more,” said Lili Franklin, a student in Hinton’s Media Literacy class. “It also made
me feel a really big sense of independence because it was my first time going out of the country
and it was without my family.”
The students were able to visit a variety of places to study media and theatre. They went
to plays and viewed the Victoria & Albert Museum to study storytelling, and they had many
intercultural experiences via visits to historical sites such as Bath, Stonehenge and even Windsor
Castle. “There was no sense of entitlement, nobody complained about anything, and we had no
sickness. This trip was everything I hoped for and more,” said Smith.
“The students were so great to travel with,” Hinton said. “They soaked up the experience.
When we got back, the second half of the semester was a whole different class. They had bonded
and they had expanded their knowledge and were more enthusiastic about the subject matter.”
The intercultural projects that resulted from the program abroad will be presented September 13-15, 2024 during Family Weekend.
“We hope there will be more opportunities for first generation students to study abroad in
the future,” said Smith.
