Can you imagine going to college on a ship? One local student gets a chance to study abroad and afloat..

Reporter Jessica Bauman has more.

Molly Sullivan is a student at the University of Mary... Normally this is her campus...But Molly was recently accepted to a program called Semester at Sea

(Molly Sullivan/Student)"If you were to be accepted, you travel around the world. Studying with students from all over not just from the U.S. There are 650 students. You go to different countries. When you're on the ship, you're studying about their cultures, education styles." Students apply to Semester at Sea by writing an essay, getting recommendations, and having a certain GPA. That meant Molly was on her way to a ship...and on her way around the world.

"We started in Mexico, we went back to Hawaii, or the U.S., Japan, China, Vietnam, Thailand, India, Egypt, Turkey, Croatia, Spain, and France." Only two students from North Dakota where selected for the voyage that ran from August 27 through December 8

The students study about different countries, cultures, educational styles. They get hands on experience by visiting the countries for about a week each. Molly visited 12. She says she can't pick a favorite country, but Vietnam, Egypt and France stood out to her

Molly says she learned so much about other cultures and lifestyles, but she also got a good grasp on her own. Acceptance and appreciation were two of her greatest lessons. "I would say appreciation for other cultures and realizing what we have to learn from them along with appreciation for my own life style and our own culture here, especially in North Dakota."


Molly says she loved the voyage around the world and will remember it forever

"I would do this trip again in a heartbeat. I really wish I could do this for my four year degree. It's fun to look back and keep reliving it and I hope that do that for a long time. I was happy to see my family and friends again though."


Next semester though she returns to the University of Mary to finish her degree and one day pursue a career in international business..

For KX News, I'm Jessica Bauman...

Molly will be talking about her trip experiences at a presentation at the University of Mary coming up on March 13th. watch the video | save this article / add to your favorites list