Students are hoping to provide their peers with updates and information about study abroad in a new student organization.

GW Students for Study Abroad, which registered on GW Engage two weeks ago, aims to provide students with tips for traveling outside the United States, like the best transportation apps and tourist destinations in their university’s area. Students who launched the organization said they will work to channel information from the Office for Study Abroad to its members to educate students about trips and study abroad applications. 

“I realized there wasn’t really a centralized student voice for study abroad, which is crazy considering that half of GW students, if not more, will study abroad over the course of their college career,” said junior Indigo Stegner, the president of the organization.

Stegner said she worked to create the group this summer after she hosted a town hall between officials and students who planned to study abroad this year about the status of their trips. All study abroad trips are halted for the academic year in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Stegner said the organization is surveying students on their preferred method of communicating grievances and concerns they have about study abroad being canceled in the spring to establish a “direct line” of communication with officials. She said in the meantime, members will also assemble resources like a peer mentoring program for those looking to study abroad. 

She said the group will use their connections with the program managers for the study abroad office to connect students who need additional logistical help with their abroad applications or are struggling to connect with officials directly. She said officials have recommended students rely on peer support for questions in the past.

“Having a way to all come together as a group in order to communicate effectively is very powerful,” Stegner said.

Stegner said one of the group’s goals once study abroad programs reopen is to connect with exchange students studying at GW and host networking events for students to feel welcomed. She said when she traveled abroad to Ireland last year, she felt comfortable because of the integration program at Queen’s University Belfast and wants to provide the same support for the hundreds of GW students who study abroad.

Junior Demi Smith, the group’s secretary, said connecting students looking to travel outside the United States with people who already studied abroad can help give them insight on each of the programs. She said members will create a centralized database for prospective students to read about experiences and tips specific to an abroad spot.

Smith said the group will also offer academic resources like study halls next academic year for students who return from abroad for them to lean on each other as they reintegrate back into campus life. She said since the group’s GW Engage and Instagram pages launched two weeks ago, about 30 students have joined.

“I think that the OSA doesn’t really provide a lot of resources for how to adapt back to life at GW and life here because I went from a very lax, fun semester in Belfast to coming back to crazy workloads at GW,” Smith said. “And it was really difficult for me to readapt to the environment.”

Junior Carmella Saia, the public relations director of SFSA, said the group has begun to connect with students and alumni who have studied abroad to join the organization as peer mentors.

She said the group plans to promote study abroad applications in March on their Instagram account when they open and organize a peer network for students who need additional support applying. Saia said she was initially hesitant to apply to the Global Bachelor’s program her freshman year because of its cost, but she learned how to make it affordable in talks with other students who traveled. 

“Sometimes you just have more informal or personal questions or things that aren’t really related to the academic part of it, and you don’t feel comfortable asking faculty or staff about those questions,” Saia said. “We want to be able to provide those resources where people can feel comfortable asking whatever they want.”