Semester at Sea

The view of an azure ocean outside the window, remote sound of waves, a 9000-volume library, international professors and enthusiastic students; you can find all these on a MV Explorer, an impressive passenger ship, which becomes a residential home for more than 2000 students, life-long learners and travelers from all over the world three times a year. All of them are participants in the Semester at Sea program. [caption id="attachment_18496" align="alignleft" width="233" caption="MV Explorer/ from SAS official webpage"][/caption] AUBG students Ksusha Lukanova and Aleksander Khambir, who enjoyed the opportunity of travelling around the globe and studying simultaneously, shared that experience with their colleagues last Thursday, Feb. 6. "Last semester we were sailing the world and taking classes on the ship.  Just yesterday we got our credits transferred, so it works!" Khambir said. Semester at Sea is the main educational program of a non-profit organization called Institute for Shipboard Education. It offers up to 75 courses in various disciplines of study along with special lectures about countries that participants are about to visit. The academic sponsor of the program is the University of Virginia, which provides variety of courses along with educational system. The program was established 50 years ago and proved to be successful by having more than 50 000 alumni from more than 1700 institutions on board throughout these years. The program offers three seasons for voyages. There is around-the-globe voyage in the spring, and exploration of a certain region of the world  in both summer and fall. The privilege of spring voyages is that one gets to visit up to 15 countries around the world, explore their culture, traditions and the surroundings in just three and a half months, while the number of visiting points lessens with a particular season. [caption id="attachment_18494" align="alignright" width="285" caption="Ksenia Lukanova"][/caption] "During our voyage we visited around 13 countries and we used to stay at particular port for five days, which counted as weekends," Khambir said. These five days, or weekends, are devoted to excursions and independent explorations of the region. An interesting fact about the Semester at Sea program is that it is not available for students only, but also for elderly people, adults and travelers. Thus, one can find people of various age, nationality and religion on the ship. "Many times there are elderly people on ship, as well as life-long learners, adults, who want to experience this college atmosphere and travel at the same time," Lukanova said. The price of voyages as well as tuition fee depends on the seasonal period, the number of classes and scholarships. The tuition of spring voyages is usually up to $24,000, while in the summer it decreases down to $14,000. However, the program provides various types of scholarships, which cover the fee either partially or fully. There are about 20 international students from all over the world on the ship and the good thing is that the program always grants a full scholarship to at least one international student. In addition to that, all applicants should keep in mind that there are various types of financial aids, which nobody mentions during the application processes, thus it is always better to notify the admissions team that you are willing to apply for them. Additionally, there is a variety of paid work-study positions on the ship, which require a two-hour work day and cover a part of the tuition fee. Participants should also keep in mind that the fee of voyages does not include visas, textbooks and tickets. However, according to Lukanova, the administration of AUBG is quite helpful both in terms of sponsorship and paperwork. [caption id="attachment_18498" align="alignleft" width="147" caption="Aleksander Khambir"][/caption] However, visa application is the most exhausting and time-consuming procedure, thus applicants have to start applying at least a couple of months before the voyage. "It is very exhausting. You basically have three months to apply for all the visas, and different nationalities have different requirements. If you don’t get a visa for certain countries they won’t let you on the ship at all, but others you can get when you are in the country already," Lukanova said. According to both Khambir and Lukavona, all these unpleasant procedures are nothing in comparison to those emotions and experiences that one gets while on the ship. Both AUBGers agreed that they have changed a lot during Semester at Sea. The program not only helped them to become more educated and well-read, but also opened their eyes on the problems that are prevailing in the world. They are planning to participate in another voyage after their graduation and advise all AUBG students to experience the same opportunity.  "We want you to get the same, or even a better experience than we had," Khambir added.