One of the greatest benefits of joining NSCS is the scholarship opportunities available to members. Semester at Sea is an organization that allows students to spend a semester traveling from country to country aboard a cruise ship, which helps them gain a global perspective and a more expansive mindset. Each year, they offer $90,000 in scholarships exclusively to NSCS members, like Jessie Lessin, who spent her 2018 fall semester traveling with Semester at Sea.
For Jessie, the time spent abroad with Semester at Sea was eye-opening and life-changing. She refers to those four months as the most impactful and influential time in her life, and she is thankful that her membership in NSCS allowed her to participate on a scholarship and fulfill her lifelong dream of traveling the world.
Jessie is a student at the University of South Carolina. Here, she is currently pursuing degrees in Finance and Sport & Entertainment Management. She joined NSCS largely because of the service opportunities the organization offered, but soon discovered the many scholarship opportunities available and started to apply. In 2018, she found out that she was the recipient of a scholarship from Semester at Sea and would be spending her fall semester on a whole new kind of study abroad adventure.
When her fall semester began, Jessie climbed aboard a cruise ship and watched the coast grow further away in the distance. Over the next several months, the ship docked in Germany, Spain, South Africa, Vietnam, China, Mauritius, Myanmar, Ghana, China, and Japan. Each stop was a new opportunity to experience a different culture and learn what the people of the world have to offer.
Jessie enjoyed the vibrant culture of Ghana and the traditional values of the Chinese people. She also built friendships and connections with other international students —connections that will serve her well as she graduates and moves forward in her career.
NSCS takes pride in offering students like Jessie Lessin a change to broaden their horizons and work towards their goals. Semester at Sea is just one of the many organizations that fund scholarships and offer unique opportunities for NSCS members. Jessie will continue to benefit from and proudly look back on her semester abroad with Semester at Sea, and future NSCS members can look forward to similar opportunities.
