With a lifelong love for travel and desire to experience other cultures, Holly Shaver, a senior agricultural business marketing major minoring in Spanish and international studies, knew she wanted to study abroad while at Purdue University. She was just unsure how feasible it would be financially.
"I'm lucky enough to have grown up traveling with my parents quite a bit, so I knew I wanted to participate in that further when I came to Purdue,” Shaver said. “It was important to me that those opportunities existed here and the College of Agriculture offered an abundance of resources for students to make it possible.”
Shaver took her first international trip at Purdue in 2022 through a co-sponsored study abroad program hosted through the College of Liberal Arts in Toledo, Spain. She applied and received four scholarships from the College of Agriculture to cover nearly half of the semester-long program.
“I am grateful to all who gave to make my scholarships possible. To me, these four scholarships represent the desire Purdue College of Agriculture has to support their students in the things that are important to them.”
Shaver notes that her study abroad experience allowed her to immerse herself in the culture and to foster a sense of community with the people she was living and learning with. The program also helped her complete her minor requirements.
“These trips are a perfect way to find yourself and really discover who you are. They also develop independence, especially if you are coming out of high school.”
Following her study abroad program, Shaver joined Purdue’s International Programs in Agriculture (IPIA) as an intern to share these opportunities and their benefits with fellow students.
Shaver encourages students who are considering study abroad to go for it.
“If you want to study abroad, don’t let costs or other obstacles stand in your way. The Purdue College of Agriculture team is here to help. There are countless opportunities and resources.”
- Holly Shaver, a senior studying agricultural business marketing
Shaver got to visit Granda, Spain and experience
its culture during part of her study abroad semester.
to see the volcano in Tiede National Park.
