BY TIMOTHY PAUL BISHOP, JR., STAFF WRITER

One may have been surprised by a multitude of tables filling the lobby of Christensen Center last Friday, Feb. 10. If you stopped to say hello, you probably picked up some popcorn and chatted with some of the folks smiling and waving you over. The occasion? The semiannual Off Campus Study fair.

Hailing from across the country and speaking for hundreds of programs around the world, over a dozen representatives from Augsburg’s associate programs showed up to present their study abroad opportunities. Even the Peace Corps came out to meet Auggies.

Twice a year, the Augsburg Office of Study Abroad and Study Away hosts this fair so that students can get an in person experience with one of the many wonderful people who represent the programs Augsburg partners with and make study abroad and study away at Augsburg as unique and rewarding as it is.

In addition to our many wondrous associates who offer their services to us, Augsburg owns and operates three global campuses. These campuses are found in Namibia, South Africa, Mexico and Central America, with the Central American site taking place in Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua. All off-campus study opportunities offered at Augsburg consist of more than 300 programs offered in 90 countries.

The Auggies who attended the fair were able to enter their names into a drawing for several prizes. The Abroad Office is also trying out a new way of staying in touch with students, and students who visited the fair had the chance to test out a program that automatically enters the contact info of the office into your device.

The Abroad Office is separated between a basement suite in Anderson and the Oyate Commons, also called Suite 2, in the Christensen Center basement. Any students who have questions about study abroad are encouraged to visit the office or email the student workers. Both the student workers and the staff members employed in the office are open for questions about any aspect of the Abroad experience.

The Study Abroad and Study Away Office at Augsburg is one of the four centers of commitment we have on campus, meaning that they pride themselves on putting the student first and working as hard as possible to make sure every student who wishes to study abroad is able to do so in an enthusiastic and successful way.

The Off Campus Study Fair will be back next fall, but if you can’t wait until then, stop by the Study Abroad Office in the Oyate Commons, found in the basement of Christensen Center. Also feel free to email the Abroad account with questions, and follow Study Abroad and Study Away on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

This article first appeared in the Friday, February 17, 2017, Edition of The Echo.