If you always wanted to study abroad but have already graduated or can't afford the tuition, there are study abroad programs that need leaders to run their overseas trips. These work opportunities vary across programs and colleges, but they are a great way to be apart of the program while getting work, leadership, and travel experience. To find out more about these jobs, I interviewed my friend Kristen who lead two very different study abroad programs in Rwanda and Switzerland. To get all the details of what it is like to work for a study abroad program, the program structor possibilities, and more, keep on reading...
Note: All study abroad programs will differ. The information in this post is based solely on Kristen's personal experience working as a study abroad leader.
Photo Credit: Rocky Scotty
Q. What was your official job working for this study abroad program?
A: It was technically called a 'House Mom' but I would [describe it as] a Residential Assistant mixed with a Teaching Assistant, [or] a residential group leader.
Q. How did you find out about and get hired for the job?
A: I studied abroad my junior year of college on the same program. After I had gone to Rwanda for the first time as a student I knew that I needed to go back. At the end of the program the professor that runs it said if [I] want to be involved with the program [for next year, we could] work something out.
Normally you study abroad your junior year and your senior year you would recruit [for the program], and then you would be a House Mom the year after, for a gap year. In the fall [during my senior year] I would go to freshman year lecture classes and present the program and I would meet up with people if they wanted to join, to give them the information on how to sign up. It is a pretty popular program at [my college] so it was not like we needed to beg people to do it. But if you don't get enough people to join then it is not going to happen… that was our incentive to make it happen.
Q. What qualifications did you need to lead a study abroad program? (Language qualifications, university affiliation, etc...)
A: You did not need to know another language. A big part was that you had to have gone to Rwanda. Or, at least, it was better if you had so you knew what to expect. You did not need to have gone through the program before. There were girls who were House Moms who did not go through the program. It is mostly a program [for our college] but it is open to anyone. We reached out to different schools and presented at their [extracurricular clubs/organizations]. It is tough [to recruit outside of your home university] because why go on a study abroad program with another school when your own school has a study abroad program.
Q. What was the training like?
A: I definitely think we could have used more training. I had gone before so I knew the deal but they never gave us any sort of specific leadership training. I knew some stuff from previous leadership roles I had but I wish they had given us more of, "this is what you should do, you should focus on this, or this is the end goal".... more prep or training from the program side of it.
Photo Credit: Dom Fou
Q. What support did you have from the university?
A: In the beginning of the semester, in Rwanda, we had supervisors who were not [physically] there with us. In Switzerland we had professors from [our university] come to teach their specific classes. The professor that runs the program came over with us originally and set up the group norms. Then he left and another teacher came for three weeks, she left and another teacher came, and so on.
Q. How long were you abroad?
A: I was in Rwanda for two months and in Switzerland for four months, [with a break in between the two]. I went home for Christmas break.
Q. How did your specific study abroad program work?
A: It is run through the college of business. The fall program is more of a leadership and social change focus and then the spring is more of a marketing and business focus. In the fall, the students goes to Switzerland for three months and then to Rwanda for one month. In the spring you don't have to go to Rwanda, or you can go for two weeks [during] the last ten day break, as opposed to one month.
They're different programs and [students] take different classes each semester but they all do a semester long grant that is focused on whichever village they are going to in Rwanda. They will do grant projects based on what the town tells them they need. [For example] one group [focused on] water pumps. The pumps don't always work and the government can allocate water where they want it to go. [The community] does have a lake that they will pump [drinking] water from, but that needs diesel to work and it is expensive. So the group's grant was putting solar panels on those pumps to make them work.
Photo Credit: Jannik Skorna
Q: How was the Rwanda study abroad semester structured?
A: We got to work with a nonprofit in Rwanda called FMO, they do a lot of work in the specific village that we were in. They have an early childhood development center and a higher education program, like a technical school that does carpentry, hair dressing, wood working, and welding. They had all those classes for kids who did not necessarily have another job lined up after high school.
We were there for a month setting up before the students came... setting up a schedule for them and working with the nonprofit. The student's schedule was to wake up, eat breakfast, then leave for the schools. There were three different schools we worked in; the one that the nonprofit has, a private school, and the public school. The students had their own classroom and they would work with the teachers who would [explain what they] needed them to teach each week [regarding the English language]. After lunch we would work with the higher educational school. [Our] students would teach entrepreneurship and business stuff, like how to write a resume and plan out your goals. We would also do cultural exchange with the school, [like] dancing and sports. After that we would either go play sports or hang out at the compound and then have dinner every night.
We also did two housing projects. Every Wednesday instead of teach we would help build two different houses. At the end of the trip the houses were complete and the [non-profit] presented the houses that we built to two families.
On the weekends we had different community service events and activities planned. We were helping build houses for the homeless population, we walked to a farm to plant trees... we went to Ellen DeGeneres' gorilla compound, we went caving, and we did a safari… [The House Moms] were in charge of planning those events and making sure we had the busses and logistics for everything.
Q. What were your responsibilities as a study abroad instructor in Rwanda?
A: There were three house moms, twelve students, and two translators. [As a House Mom] our responsibilities were working with partners to make sure their specific needs were met, keeping communication with our supervisor and professors, planning activities for free days, the day to day activities. We were making sure the [appropriate] connections with our partners were still were being upheld, meaning that we were focusing on what they wanted us to do while the students were there and projects were based around what they thought their community needed.
[With the students] it was making sure they were being fed enough, were staying hydrated, getting their personal needs met, going to class, doing lesson planning at night, and felt safe at all times. It was more of a day to day leader... having to be there for the students and get them excited.
Photo Credit: Gabriel Garcia Marengo
Q: How was the Switzerland study abroad semester structured?
A: The way the program was structured in Switzerland was... a lot. The student's days were pretty strict on where they had to be at certain times. Class was from 9:00-12:00, then they would have Italian, then Rwanda prep, and then they would have mandatory dinner. If they did not go to class they lost half a letter grade because the classes were so short. They were three hours long each day but only three weeks long. So not going to one class was like missing a week full of class on a normal schedule. It was tough.
Weekends were off and they had no homework on weekends because they were traveling. On Fridays they did not having anything after classes, so they could go get on a train and just go.
Q. What were your responsibilities in Switzerland?
A: In Switzerland I was more of what you would probably think of as a gap semester [program] leader. There were one-hundred students but seven House Moms. The main job was making sure students were in class on time, participating in the group long grant project, following quiet hours, helping them with travel needs, and any mental health or doctor needs. [We were not the doctors, but were able to connect them with the appropriate medial professionals.] We assisted in the classrooms as a [teacher's assistant] and graded homework and papers. We also had to get the students on the plane to Switzerland and get them home from Switzerland.
Photo Credit: Ferran Feixas
Q. What was provided for you as a study abroad instructor?
A: In Rwanda we had flights paid for, all meals were covered, and housing was covered but we did not get a stipend. In Switzerland they paid for our flights, our housing, and group dinner every night. Then we got a stipend for the whole semester. I definitely lost money doing [this job] but I was traveling the whole time. We traveled every single weekend and had a lot of breaks.
Q. What were your accommodations like?
A: In Rwanda we staid in a nun's convent. It was so cool. We had rooms with cots and they cooked, cleaned, and did our laundry [for us].
In Switzerland we were staying in this hostel, but hostel is a loose term, its not a [classic] hostel that you would think of. It was this very nice building and it is connected to a really nice hotel. It's right by Lake Como in Italy. It [consists of] an older population, very rich and wealthy.
Q. Did you get a chance to travel while working as a study abroad instructor?
A: Oh yeah! We traveled every single weekend and had three, ten day breaks to travel wherever we wanted. We went to Copenhagen, Sweden, Venice, Morocco, Jordan, Cyprus, Ireland, England, Scotland, Budapest, [and Germany]. My boyfriend came to visit and we went to Rome and Lake Como. My friend is living in Spain right now teaching English in Madrid so we went to visit her, [and] my parents came and we went to Zermatt, Florence, and Tuscany. Any time the students were traveling, we could travel.
Being there for so long and not paying for housing… that is never going to happen in my life again. I probably spent $6,000-$7,000 dollars in total for all of that travel for over 4 months, but $3,000 of that was the stipend [for working there]. It was worth it.
Photo Credit: Emmy Shingiro
Q. What were the best parts of working as a study abroad instructor?
A: Okay, perks of Rwanda… I just love being there. It was my favorite place [and] you should definitely go if you have a chance. Everyone is so nice, it is a beautiful country, the city is fun, and there is a lot to do. [My friend] and I were actually in wedding before we left. Our translator was [the same] translator from when we were students and the first night that we were there we all went out [together to catch up]. She asked when [we were] leaving, and if [we could] stay an extra day because she wanted [us] to be in her wedding.
I really did like the experience I had with the students in Rwanda. I felt like it was very meaningful for them and for me. I had the best time there and I wanted them to have the best time there so I am glad I got to help foster that for other people.
In Switzerland a lot of the kids were fun to hang out with and the travel was insane. Like I said, I got to travel to so many places and not worry about [paying rent]. When is that going to happen again in my life?
Q. What were the hardest parts of being a study abroad instructor?
A: In Rwanda a lot of people got really homesick because it was the last month that they were there, so they were out of touch. That was hard and sad. It was hard being away from my family for that long and the time change was tough too. I would only have service and connect to wifi back at where we were staying so not being able to talk to my family was difficult.
In Switzerland it was difficult to work with some of the [other leaders] I was working with. Not everyone that was there was the best fit for the job... and that is not saying that I was a perfect fit either, I made mistakes for sure. But some girls were really difficult to work with and were mean and snippy with the students. Some people were not there for the right reasons... [they] were only focused on the travel, and yes I was too, but I was also there to do a job.
It was exhausting and hard to be away form family that long, and it was really long days. And missing holidays... I missed Thanksgiving [and] Easter.
Q. Did the smaller age gap between you and the students make leading difficult?
A: That is what I was nervous about going in… not as much in Rwanda because I had been there and was going to be there another month before [the students] came. At that point it was not a matter of who is older or younger but who has more knowledge about where we are and what we are doing.
[I had one male student] in Rwanda who was older than us, his [attitude was], ‘I don't know why I can't go anywhere alone, I am older than you and I am a boy, so realistically what could you protect me from if something happened'. In Switzerland, by that point I had already been through a semester so I knew how to handle it more, but sometimes there were people whose [attitude was], ‘I don't want to listen to you or anyone and I am going to do what I want’.
It was not a huge issue because I had traveled before so they would ask me for help due to my knowledge and experience. By the end, when I got closer to students, I felt I had more of an impact because they would come to me with everything from, 'I lost my passport' to ‘me and my boyfriend broke up’. I got to help with emotional support and facilitate a positive experience for them.
Photo Credit: Mantas Hesthaven
Q. Would you work as a study abroad instructor again?
A: Yes I would, at least the Rwanda part. If there was an opportunity to work with the partners in Rwanda and just do that, I would love to go back. [If I went back to Switzerland] I would like to just have an RA role and not be involved in the classes. I feel like I was not qualified to be a TA except for the grant part [of the class]. Yes, I had taken these classes before, but when I was a student we did more of the leadership and social change, [the classes I assisted in were] marketing classes and I am not a business student.
Q. What can someone put on their resume to help them get a student leader job in the study abroad field?
A: Experience abroad and experience leading a group of kids, organizational skills, time management skills, the ability to problem solve well, and travel problem solving skills.
Q. What is something you would tell someone who is looking to do the same type of job?
A: Just know that you may not get that much free time or alone time. You are there for the students and they should be your main priority. It is going to be a lot of work and demanding because they have so many questions about the smallest little travel things or personal things. It is rewarding and fun because you get to travel but you are not just there for your own personal travel. You should not go into it for the wrong reasons. You should care about the student's experience over your own.
Conclusion
As you can tell from Kristen's experience, study abroad programs and leader job descriptions can be vastly different. A big thank you to Kristin for taking the time out of our crazy training schedule to share so much about her experiences. Hopefully her diverse experience will give you an idea of the different expectations and possibilities you may have as a study abroad leader. Have you worked as a study abroad instructor or student leader? Share your experience in the comments below!