About SST

SST is a 13-week journey, in which you will learn to know a different culture from the inside out - its language, its customs, its history and, most importantly, its people. You will also learn to better understand yourself and your place in the world. Pack your suitcase and an inquisitive mind, because your classroom is now an open door.

Many colleges offer international education options and the number of students studying abroad is at an all-time high. Yet, SST is one of the nation’s most original study abroad programs because it takes you from North America to another culture and another way of life. By joining SST, you join more than 7,000 Goshen alumni - guided by more than 230 faculty leaders in 20 countries - in a 40-year-old tradition of entering a new world of interest and insight.

Expect to be transformed. Often our SSTers say that their hosts give them far more than they feel they are offering in return - through kindness, acceptance, laughter and generosity. Through the successes and the challenges on SST, you will grow as a person and discover new insights into God’s presence in the world and in your heart.

Study

"I learned a lot of facts about the culture in classes, but the real education was in communicating with my host family."

"The most surprising part of entering another culture I found is that once I started to form relationships with Ethiopians, they began to honestly express their impressions of my own culture. I learned a lot about how my own culture is viewed in the world."

With about 20 other students, you will begin your SST experience in your host country’s capital with six weeks of intense study, including focused language instruction with trained nationals.

Language classes occur daily. Class sizes vary, ranging between 5 to 10 students per teacher, providing students a better opportunity to improve speaking ability. In the evenings, in most locations, you will return to a host family, a wonderful way to get a perspective of everyday life – the workday, simple meals, personal histories and joyful recreation.

In the afternoons, seminars and field trips will put you in touch with educators, scholars, government officials, historians, authors, service workers, musicians and other experts on different aspects of life in your host country. You may find your classroom expanded from the Great Wall of China to Lalibela, churches carved entirely of stone, in Ethiopia.

Service

Service is the true heart of the SST experience, as you meet and engage people from a different culture. In this second half of SST, you will gain profound insights into the host culture—and the different meanings of service. No longer is it simply accomplishing a task, but service can be as simple and profound as listening to the life experiences of others.

"It was on service that a family received me as a complete stranger and, more than anyone I’ve ever met, taught me the meanings of hospitality, generosity and unselfishness."

Service assignments vary on every SST, but typical assignments would include:

	Teaching English
	Working in a school with children
	Helping at a health clinic
	Assisting in a community development project
	Volunteering at Habitat for Humanity