On March 8, the first of more than 450 first-year and transfer students participating in 21 Preview courses braved snowy conditions on the way to their destinations—17 countries across four continents. Passports pocketed, students will study U.S.-Cuba relations in Havana, the Cold War in Berlin, religion in Israel, multiculturalism in Romania, and more. A tradition since 1994, Preview is an exhilarating global learning experience like no other.

Once the globe-trotters touch down, they will begin fieldwork and in-country study. Biology major Mackenzie Weiss ’16 is participating in the course Goal! Socio-cultural Significance of Football in Brazil. The group will attend a soccer match featuring Corinthians, a staple in the Brasileirão, within 24 hours of landing. “I’m looking forward to the day-one soccer game,” he says. “It’s great we get to go to one of their big stadiums, see a soccer match and experience the sports culture. It’s even better than I’m with all my buddies.”

Many students, such as Brazil-bound Psychology major Angela Rimmer ’16, have never set foot on international soil. Moments away from boarding a bus that’ll take her and classmates to the airport, she reflected on her excitement. “I’m anxious to experience a different culture and how they live down there,” she says. “I imagine we’re going to be weird to Brazilians in some way. When foreigners come here, we notice their different customs and cultural habits—it’s going to be really interesting being the one being noticed.”

Other students, including Marissa Cecere ’16, Brooke Barrett ’16 and Janelle Crilley ’16, are experienced global learners: They participated in Arcadia’s distinctive First Year Study Abroad Experience (FYSAE) during the fall 2012 semester. Bound for Costa Rica, they’re most excited about the subject matter of their course Nature, Bilingualism and Education at Home and in the Cloud Forest. “I’m really looking forward to working with the kids because an aspect of our course focuses on bilingualism,” says Crilley. “We visited a bilingual school in Philly several times and now we’re going to a bilingual school in Costa Rica to compare and contrast the two.”

First-year and transfer students, faculty and staff are headed to Athens, Greece; Berlin, Germany; São Paulo, Brazil; Paris, France; Xi’an, China; Havana, Cuba; Dublin and Belfast, Ireland; Edinburgh, Scotland; Galway, Ireland; Jerusalem; Seoul, South Korea; London, England; Bucharest, Romania; Rome, Italy; Port of Spain, Trinidad; Puebla, Mexico; Monteverde, Costa Rica; Vienna and Salzburg, Austria and Sicily, Italy.