of the best experiences of his life this year. He's seen the aurora borealis, also known as the northern polars lights, in Alaska, and even ate black bear on Thanksgiving.
O'Connor is among the students who have chosen to participate in the National Student Exchange, attending school at the University of Fairbanks in Alaska.
The National Student Exchange program is a non-profit organization that offers study away opportunities to students, with choices from over 200 different universities in the United States, U.S. territories and Canada.
"I chose to enroll in the program because I had lived in New England my entire life and found that it would be relatively cheaper, and easier to travel through the program rather than transfer to another school," said O'Connor. "Through the program I was able to keep my in-state tuition and travel to another institution with ease."
The informational meeting for the National Student Exchange program was held on Thursday, Feb. 5, by Paula M. DiNardo, the coordinator of the Office of National and State Exchange Programs.
DiNardo gave a wide variety of reasons for why a student would choose National Study Exchange instead of studying abroad, including: no need for another language; no need for passport; the program is significantly less expensive; and all laws and rules are familiar.
Additionally, she said, most major courses are easier to transfer, the program is less of a burden on parents because of proximity and cost, and there are no financial penalties if a student decides he or she wants to come home early or pull out of the program before it starts.
Among these benefits, DiNardo said students could challenge themselves "outside of [their] comfort zone."
Furthermore, according to DiNardo, this program not only offers students the opportunity to learn more about their own culture by getting out of New England, but also the chance to learn about other cultures even though you're in the same country.
Three years ago, in 2006, Jannisse Figueroa-Gay from Puerto Rico came to UNH through the National Exchange Program. She now works for the Office of National and State Exchange Programs and has since lived here in the United States.
"I loved it," Figueroa-Gay said. "I didn't want to go back."
Figueroa-Gay said she chose the program because her first concern was finding a university that would offer courses in her chemical engineering major she could not take at home.
"[And] also a little bit of the weather," she said.
Even though people called her crazy for moving to the brisk temperatures of New England, she insisted she wanted a little bit of a change after living on a warm island thus far.
"The program helped my networking," said Figueroa-Gay, after completing the program.
Through working at the national exchange office she has been able to work with and meet people from surrounding offices, gaining many references.
Also, while she was here as an exchange student, she had the opportunity to work with the community to help Taylor Hall become more energy efficient.
"What I have seen is that people are really dedicated," Figueroa-Gay said of UNH.
She said the environment in Puerto Rico is much more laid back, but she prefers to work hard in her classes.
"I have learned how to tolerate people from different cultures and adapt to a different culture," Figueroa-Gay said of her experience at UNH.
In Puerto Rico, people are more conservative in some aspects, according to Figueroa-Gay. She said when she came here she was "facing a new world," and thought, "I'm not on my island anymore."
O'Connor said the best part of being in Alaska was the people.
"Since Alaska is such a young state, the people have a very independent mindset," he said. "They are very vocal of their opinions and understand there is a certain ruggedness associated with living in their region."
Figueroa-Gay's advice to students for the future is to go for a full-year program.
"I don't know if it's Americans being afraid of taking risks, but if someone is interested in this program I suggest they go for a year because it doesn't give you the full opportunities if you just go for one semester," she said, adding the opportunities will help later.
DiNardo said students whose parents are UNH employees get half off the tuition for the program.
Students can start the application process now. DiNardo said if a student does their research, the average application process needs about two weeks to be completed.
More information students can be found online at www.nse.org and www.unh.edu/nse, as well as the program's Facebook group. Applications are due by Feb. 26, 2009, and results should be out by Friday, March 13.
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