A GO Your Way Program is an immersion experience in a cultural setting different from one’s own for a minimum of 2 weeks. Beyond the basics, the requirement is extremely flexible.
 
There are 4 types of GO Your Way programs: Summer Schools, Internships/Volunteer programs, Study Programs, or self-designed.  The only one where you would create your program from scratch is through a self-designed. The others are done through an organization that helps you with the logistics, like a study abroad, internship, or volunteer organization. Summer Schools are at our partner universities – we send students there for GO Long, but they also have summer schools available.

• Summer Schools:
  • SU partners with a handful of universities abroad that offer summer classes
  • Cyprus, Ireland, Japan, Prague, Scotland, and The Netherlands
• Volunteer/Intern
  • Volunteer or intern with Projects Abroad, which has flexible dates and lengths
  • Other international internship providers are featured here
• Study Programs:
  • Use a study abroad program provider to take a course in various disciplines 
• Self-designed GO Your Way programs are student-driven including utilizing personal connections or interests.
  • Students need to show GO within their application that during their self-designed program, they will be entering a different cultural setting which has been identified ahead of time, and where they will have consistent, meaningful contact with members of the host culture in order to learn to identify those “shared set of values, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors which are widely held by members of the host culture.” The location of the program and the cross-cultural experience are dependent on the student.

Students who want to participate in a GO Your Way Program will travel during winter or summer break. It is important to keep in mind that you will need to complete a required GO pre-departure class the semester prior to your travel experience. The class is a full second 7 weeks class so all approvals must be complete before that date. You are also required to complete the Global Citizenship reflection course after you return from your travels before graduation.  These required courses cannot be waived, nor taken retroactively.

Your GO Your Way online application will be reviewed on a rolling basis. After the application submission deadline closes, you can expect to receive a decision about your application within two weeks. You may be asked to make modifications to your original application and asked to complete and submit additional paperwork.

Applications for summer programs are open from October 15-February 15. Applications for winter programs are open from March 15-September 15. Please allow at least two weeks for your application to be reviewed by the GO Program.

Yes. There is a $200 non-refundable administrative fee for GO Your Way programs ($400 for self-designed programs). If a student withdraws after the commitment deadline there is an additional $500 withdrawal fee. These are in addition to any deposits or fees that a program provider/host organization may charge. 
 

The purpose of this requirement is for you to spend time immersed in a culture that is different from your own. For the purposes of this requirement, this generally means a culture whose values, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors have been passed down from generation to generation.  The most obvious example would involve travel to another country.  But it is also possible to experience a significant cross-cultural immersion within your own country.   It is up to you to demonstrate that what you propose will immerse you in a new and different cultural setting.  Still unsure? Check out What’s Up With Culture? They say:

So when you propose your own GO experience, you’ll want to show us that you will be entering a cultural setting where you could learn to identify a “shared set of values, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors which are widely held by members of the host culture.”  Just traveling to some other part of the country or the world is not enough.  You have to be immersed in another culture. It is also important to recognize that immersion is a 24/7 experience.  Applications, where students live at home and participate in an internship, job, or service project during the day only to return home in the evenings, will not be approved.

The experience does not have to be for credit and it does not have to be a formal pre-designed program.  Students must provide evidence in their application that they have planned a significant cross-cultural experience that will help them meet the learning goals adopted by the Susquehanna faculty for this requirement.   Some possibilities include:

When developing a GO Your Way program application, it is important to recognize that the emphasis should be on a single culture where an identified group of people has shared and passed down traditions from generation to generation.  Beware when developing your application that geography, location, and distance are often mistaken with culture and will not satisfy the requirement if made the focus, e.g. I will go camping in the woods to learn about living off the grid or I will do a Sound of Music tour traveling to 9 countries in 18 days to learn about the Swiss. Another thing to consider is that you can learn a great deal about a culture in an unexpected location, e.g. I lived with a Cuban immigrant family and volunteered in a Cuban neighborhood in Miami to learn about Cuban-American culture. 
 
Proposed programs focusing on: group tours, animals (working at zoos or shelters), organizational culture (corporate culture, sports camps, army/ROTC training, etc.), population differences (going to the city when you are from the country), landscapes (from mountains to the beach), disabilities (wearing a blindfold to experience blindness), evangelistic/mission trips will not satisfy the requirement.