Chance of a Lifetime

The opportunity for college students to earn credit while traveling to foreign countries

By Eric Oslund

“If you want to see the world and see England, go on Eurospring,” said Oxford Prof. Allan Chapman in a recent speech he gave at Bemidji State University.

Just walking around campus you can hear the buzz of Eurospring in one way or another. You will usually hear student saying it was one of the most memorable moments in their lives, professors talking about how amazing it is, or students talking about how they want to go on it.

Oxford Prof. Allan Chapman came to BSU
and gave a speech about Eurospring to a group of students.
Chapman has been the head lecturer at the Oxford
 section of the trip, since the trip originated.
Photo by Eric Oslund

Chapman has been the head lecturer for the Eurospring program since it began in 1977. He came to BSU to deliver his annual lecture on Sept. 19; but he also spoke to a large group of students about Eurospring. While in Oxford, Chapman takes students on multiple field trips, including the famous Stonehenge located in the England countryside of Wiltshire.

During the entirety of the Eurospring trip, you will travel all across Europe after spending five weeks in Oxford. Previous itineraries have included Paris, Lucerne, Florence, Orvieto, Rome, Venice, Salzburg, Munich, Dachau, Nuremberg, and Heidelberg. They will also get to see London and stay on the Oxford campus at the beginning of the trip.

Laura Runningen is a student at Minnesota State University-Mankato, and she went on the Eurospring trip with BSU students in 2005. In the book “The Journey That Matters,” Runningen recalls her “experience of a lifetime.”

"The Journey That Matters" is a book comprised
 of stories from the BSU students of
2005 that went on Travel Programs.
One of which was Eurospring.
Photos by Eric Oslund

She talks about how the trip changed her as a person and touched her soul. It was an experience that she will never forget and would not trade for anything. “To answer the people back home: a price couldn’t be put on this trip; it was too much of a real-life fairy tale,” stated Runningen in her story.

Students will have the opportunity to earn fifteen academic credits for going on this trip around Europe. Since this is an academic trip, the students have to attend classes taught by Chapman and take an exam at the end of the trip. The students will also be enrolled in the main lecture class in Wycliffe Hall on the Oxford University campus.

With the economy the way it is and the US dollar doing poorly in the global market some people may feel as if they cannot afford to go on Eurospring. According to the Eurospring page on the BSU-Web site the program fee is not yet available, but it is estimated to be around $7000. “BSU financial aid covered half of the cost for me,” said Erin Sundvall, a BSU student who went on Eurospring in 2011. “There were actually a lot more students that got more financial aid than I did.”