Brenna O’Neill, a senior and markets and culture major, spent the fall semester of 2014 at the CIEE University of Cape Town, South Africa. For four months, O’Neill lived in Cape Town and traveled to places like Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Tanzania. O’Neill rode elephants, went on safaris, and even taught young children how to read English at a school in a poor area of Cape Town. She took unique classes, such as a sociology class about family life in South Africa and religions of Africa class.

“It’s so cliché, but going abroad was life changing,” O’Neill said.

O’Neill loved her time abroad so much that when she came back to SMU in the spring, she wanted to tell other students about it. Luckily for her, the SMU Abroad Student Ambassadors program started up again that semester. The Student Ambassador program consists of 20 SMU students who spent a semester studying abroad. These ambassadors return to tell others about their experience and guide them through the process.

However, despite the ambassador program, some students still say they have problems getting courses they take abroad approved, and finding courses to take that correlate with their majors or minor. Choosing classes to take abroad that fulfill the UC and pillar requirements can also pose a problem for students.

Cori Hill is the director of the ambassador program. She believes that students make it harder than it has to be and advises them to see their academic advisers to help them pick courses.

“The course approval process is not that hard,” she said.

Some of the ambassadors are all too familiar with the struggle of getting courses approved, but they didn’t let this stop them.

“I struggled every day the semester before, but it was 100 percent worth it,” O’Neill said. O’Neill faced an especially difficult time getting her courses approved because she was the first SMU student to do the CIEE University of Cape Town program.

The student ambassadors are excited to share their stories and are trained to talk to students inquiring about studying abroad. Twelve of the 20 ambassadors are also peer advisers, meaning they have been selected to take a more active role to promote studying abroad, such as hanging up flyers for the abroad fair and all the meetings. These students will also speak about studying abroad at the Student Foundations panel on Oct. 30, during Family Weekend.

“So much of the work of going abroad is leading up to getting on the plane. You need all your information ready, you need to have all your ducks in a row and getting help from as many people as possible makes it easier and more enjoyable,” said Jacob Conway, a finance major and an ambassador who spent the summer of 2014 doing the SMU-in-London Business Internship and then went straight to Copenhagen for the fall semester of 2014.

SMU had an ambassador program, but the abroad office revamped it in this past year. The previous program was focused on students working behind the scenes, while the new program, which launched in mid-spring, directly connects ambassadors to students.

“Word of mouth is the biggest factor of getting students abroad, which is why the advising program is so important,” Hill said.

Inquiring students can go to the ambassador program website and view the list of ambassadors, their majors, what their favorite part of going abroad is, and their email addresses in order to contact them directly.

SMU sends about 500 students abroad annually. Eighty percent of students study abroad over the summer and about 100 to 150 study abroad each semester. The office is sometimes very crowded, but with the ambassador program, ambassadors are creating their own office hours to serve as an additional resource for students.

“The program creates a new channel between the abroad office and the students,” Conway said.

Unfortunately, the ambassador program can’t solve every issue. The ambassadors are trained to help students figure out what abroad program will work for them, but they can’t cross the boundary into academic advising.

Still, some students still struggle to get courses approved for their major. Samantha Campau, a junior business major, planned to study abroad in Copenhagen this semester. She was ready to go and even paid the $1,000 deposit, but didn’t realize that she hadn’t completed the prerequisites needed in order to take most of the business courses offered in Copenhagen.

Campau’s abroad adviser told her that she could either take courses in the summer before going to Copenhagen or she could take courses unrelated to her major while abroad, which would result in Campau not graduating on time.

“Neither option was appealing to me, so I ended up withdrawing from the program. I plan to study abroad this summer,” Campau said.

Conway, who is taking 19 hours this semester, said that the sacrifices students make are rewarding in the end. Conway acknowledges the difficulties the UC can create, but said it’s ultimately up to the students to decide what is best for them.

“That’s what going abroad is all about, finding a new sense of independence,” Conway said. “That has to start from the first day you apply.”