Chloe Benson ’24 gifts Choate gear to her host family in Zaragoza, Spain.
16 Choate students on the summer Singapore trip pose in front of the Marina Bay Sands.
Choate’s study abroad program gives students the opportunity to deepen their understanding of different academic and cultural interests while enjoying language learning through immersive experiences around the world. The students who studied abroad in the 2022-2023 school year, the first cohort to do so since the start of the pandemic, have returned to campus for the new school year.
Some destinations students explored included Spain, France, Italy, and Singapore. With a heavy focus on language immersion, students were required to communicate in their selected language of study while staying with a host family and participating in classes.
Fifth-former Quinn Farmer ’25 studied abroad in Rennes, France, during the winter and spring terms last year. She enjoyed her experience with her host family and is still in touch with them.
Through the program, Farmer became more independent and learned more about who she was as an individual. She added, “I’m a lot more extroverted after dealing with people in a new language and learning to be okay with being wrong and making mistakes within learning a language.”
Sixth-former Jada Dixon ’24 also traveled to Rennes during their fifth-form year. The study abroad experience inspired them to not only return to France, but to travel more in general as well.
Dixon’s time in France also allowed them to gain a better understanding of themself. “You are more than just the relationships you have with your family and friends and the ties of where you are from,” they said.
In June 2023, Lucy Domingo ’26 participated in Choate’s inaugural trip to Singapore. 16 students spent 10 days studying business, sustainability, and entrepreneurship. Led by Chinese teacher Dr. Carol Chen-Lin and humanities teacher Mr. Craig Johnson, attendees visited cultural landmarks, museums, and startups focusing on sustainability and innovation.
Domingo described that her experience in Singapore gave her a more “well-rounded perspective of the world, the business world, along with life in Southeast Asia.”
Fifth-former Lila Gizzie ’25 studied in Zaragoza, Spain, during the winter and spring terms last year. Gizzie decided to study abroad to immerse herself in a new culture and work on speaking Spanish. She shared, “It gave me the opportunity to enhance my language skills.”
Director of Global Engagement Ms. Ashley Sinclair hopes that the program will allow students to become “more confident in themselves, have stronger judgment and abilities, and feel ready for new and unfamiliar situations.”
