On the Ground: Globalizing Campus with the Study Abroad Center and Global Learning Lounge

When Hospitality and Tourism Management major Gia Levis ’24 needs a place to study or hang out, she heads right to the Study Abroad Center and Global Learning Lounge.

“I'll use it for a wide variety of reasons,” she says.

The Lounge, which is new to the York College campus this fall, is located in Humanities 209. Gia first started going to the space when it was just an alcove filled with books.

“I kind of stumbled upon it, because of my major. I was in the Humanities building last year, so I was there all the time,” she says. “I used to refer to it as the ‘book nook’ because it was filled with books.”

This semester, she noticed that the book nook was gone, and in its place was the new Study Abroad Center and Global Learning Lounge.

“I thought they must be doing something with it. And then they started adding the things for the Lounge,” she adds. “There are all these different world clocks. And there's the world map on the wall, four different comfy chairs, and a couch.”

Gia uses the Lounge for many different purposes. It’s a great place to study but also to have conversations with friends, she says.

“It’s a really great place to go relax. It's not a private room, but it is personal, so you can sit there in a comfy chair and pull out your laptop and do some work in between classes,” she explains. “It's also a good place to meet up with friends.”

In addition, the Lounge serves as a resource for students interested in pursuing study abroad experiences during their time at YCP.

“There are all these different pamphlets and information about different study abroad programs that YCP offers, so that's there in case anyone is interested or wants to learn more about them,” she adds.

Gia, who is a Graham Collaborative Innovation Fellow, is taking part in a study abroad program herself. Over winter break, she will be one of four students who travel to Dubai as part of the Dubai International Practical Experience, a new program for students studying Hospitality and Tourism Management that is being led by professors Dr. Fred Becker and Dr. Joseph Scarcelli,  and funded by YCP alumnus Sanjay Parekh ’96/MBA ’99.

Because of that, the Study Abroad Center and Global Learning Lounge is the perfect place for Gia to both relax and study, if need be, because it meets all of her needs, both in terms of academics and studying abroad.

“It makes you feel connected to other parts of the world,” Gia says.