Two Pioneering Websites Join to Help Students Fund Their Study Abroad Dreams
New York, NY (PRWEB) May 08, 2014
GoEnnounce, a platform for students to “ennounce” and track their educational achievements and fundraise for goals, and Abroad101, the world’s first and largest study abroad review website have launched the “Abroad101 Student of the Week” initiative, designed to help more students study abroad. The partnering education startups are tackling one of the primary barriers to study abroad– cost.
Each week, a student who created a “Mission” for a study abroad program on GoEnnounce will be selected. Abroad101 will contribute cash to the selected student’s fundraising efforts and promote that student’s GoEnnounce page through Abroad101’s connections in the study abroad field. The student’s “Mission” will link to their desired study abroad program’s reviews on Abroad101 allowing the student’s followers (friends and family) to read and gain insight as to the student’s choice.
The first student selected as the “Abroad101 Student of the Week” is Natalie Bahr, a sophomore at Concordia University Texas, who was accepted to an intensive study abroad program in the heart of Shanghai, China. She will immerse herself in the culture and society, while picking up eight credits towards her degree. With dreams of becoming an elementary school teacher, she thinks the knowledge and skills she will acquire on this trip will make her an even more effective teacher.
Melissa Davis, co-founder of GoEnnounce stated, “This project is an example of the power of an academically focused social media platform, in which a student’s followers can not only track the progress of the student, but also help contribute to the student’s goals.” Using a practice commonly referred to as “crowdfunding”, GoEnnounce gives students the tools to share a fundraising “Mission” with their network, and then collect donations online from the “crowd.” According to Davis, “The Abroad101 Student of the Week project will help many ambitious, hard-working students achieve their lifetime goal of studying abroad. Partnering with a well-connected company like Abroad101 will not only help individual students, but we also expect it to motivate additional students to start their own fundraising “Missions” to study abroad.”
Abroad101’s CEO Mark Shay points out that many parents and family members who may not have gone to college or studied abroad themselves have a hard time understanding the benefits of an international immersion. According to Shay, “We have more than 20,000 reviews on Abroad101, and each tells a story of a young person’s success, individual achievement and self-improvement. By bringing these experiences to the attention of future students and their supporters, we increase the awareness of the benefits of an experience abroad. Former students become virtual role models for future students and this helps draw friends and family to join the circle. It’s a very positive application of technology and social networking to help the dreams of tomorrow’s generation,” said Shay.
About Abroad101
Founded in 2007, Abroad101 is the first and largest study abroad review website. Focusing on American college students looking for a semester or term abroad, this innovative platform connects past and future students, parents and advisors and program providers through its market-leading online evaluation tool. Abroad101 grew from one partnership at Tufts University in 2007 to over 215 college partnerships today. The Abroad101 directory of study abroad programs is the most comprehensive database in the field today. Click to learn more about Abroad101’s Study Abroad Programs, Rankings, Ratings and Reviews
About GoEnnounce
GoEnnounce gives students a place to tell their educational stories with their family, friends and mentors. It is a way for students to track and share their achievements, projects, and goals with their network to get the encouragement and financial help they need to succeed. All students’ school and extracurricular ‘ennoucement’ updates are saved in a social e-portfolio environment. A student’s followers can respond with likes, comments and even rewards into a college savings account. At anytime, a student can launch a fundraiser, to collect donations for goals and expenses.
Our next Abroad101 Student of the Week goes to rising senior Fernando Valle from Arizona State University. Fernando will be traveling to the historical city of Florence, Italy for two weeks to learn conversational Italian and Italian business culture through living with a host family. After that, Fernando will begin a six-week internship program in Italy’s international business and financial capital, Milan, where he will gain hands-on experience to accompany his interdisciplinary studies track at school and earn credit towards his graduation. You can learn more about and contribute to Fernando’s Mission here.
Ghana, located in West Africa, is not only oldest of Africa’s democratic societies, but also home to a rich natural and cultural landscape. From planned trips to wildlife sanctuaries like the Baobeng Rieme Monkey Sanctuary and historically significant landmarks like the slave castles on Cape Coast, Janee’ will immerse herself in Ghanaian history and culture while studying African American Psychology. You can learn more about Janee’ and contribute to her fundraising Mission here. Congrats Janee’!