Study Abroad Fair 2025: Meredith’s Global Classroom

Each fall, Meredith College’s Study Abroad Fair transforms an ordinary afternoon into an invitation to study and take classes around the world. Hosted on Sep. 23, this year’s fair gave students a chance to explore faculty-led programs, talk with study abroad ambassadors, and visit tables covered in bright red cloths, postcards and posters. The fair brought together people who have lived the study abroad experience and created a space where questions could be mingled easily. Students shared future plans and stories that began inspiring new students to create their own.

The fair started with the Office of International Programs team arranging brochures, placing posters vertically, and setting out trays of snacks. The Belk Dining House courtyard was lined with opportunities while volunteers moved briskly between tables. Members of the Media Services team and the Dining Hall lent their hands to the setup through mood-setting music and scrumptious cupcakes. By the time the first students trickled in, the room buzzed with possibility. Affiliate program members began setting up their tables on the opposite side of the Meredith programs. Each table offered items that displayed attention to detail, like a table displaying a program to the United Kingdom with Paddington Bears. There was a display reading: Costa Rica: Language & Culture, where students live with host families in San Joaquín de Flores, practicing Spanish and learning through excursions to waterfalls, coffee farms and small towns. A few feet away, brochures for Art, Culture, & Landscape in New Mexico showcased how students could follow in Georgia O’Keeffe’s footsteps, sketchbook in hand, exploring Santa Fe, Taos, and Indigenous art traditions. Across the ground, students gathered around the Medicinal Chemistry in Italy table, learning how science and Renaissance history intersect in Sansepolcro and Florence. Perhaps one of the most popular tables was the United Kingdom: Leadership & Women’s Empowerment in London program, which offers students the chance to study arts, leadership and resilience in the heart of Regent’s Park, with trips to sites like the Cotswolds, Parliament and the Globe Theatre.

Throughout the afternoon, students paused to listen to ambassadors who shared their own study abroad stories. Each student who navigated language barriers, found new cultures and discovered that love and home can exist in more places than one. Professors stood at their tables too, ready to describe the unique perspectives their programs offered, from sketching landscapes to entrepreneurial resilience. The place was filled with conversations, and the sign-up sheets quickly began to fill.

The Study Abroad program is part of Meredith’s commitment to preparing students for a global future. Each program offers scholarships, funding workshops, and one-on-one advising with the Office of International Programs. Any decision students make, the experiences are designed to build confidence, cultural competency, and resilience to study and build connections in different contexts. The students left carrying snacks and cupcakes, brochures, and most importantly, a spark of possibility. The imagination of life in a new city or navigating a language unfamiliar to them encouraged students to sign up for updates on application deadlines. The Fair reminded everyone that opportunities are abundant, and each one offers a first step toward an extraordinary journey.

By Meghana Chebbi, Contributing Writer