From Delaware to New Zealand — and back again

Leah Marsh was sure that she would go to college outside Delaware and never live in a major city. Fate, or perhaps curiosity, had better plans.

It's July 2019, and Marsh can hardly sleep. Just a month ago, she graduated from high school in Lewes, Delaware, and now, after 20 hours of traveling, she's spending her first night in Auckland, New Zealand.

She's eager to explore a new country as a student in the University of Delaware's World Scholars Program, joining other first-year students in a life-changing experience.

"My parents were just as thrilled as I was by such an amazing opportunity, so they encouraged me to pursue it wholeheartedly," Marsh said. "We'd traveled internationally as a family before, but they knew this would be a big step toward my independence."

UD's World Scholars Program, now celebrating its 10-year anniversary, is a unique global education experience designed to help students see the world and themselves in new and inspiring ways. It began in 2015 with 39 first-year students traveling to Rome, Italy, and has since grown into a four-year program offering structured international and domestic opportunities throughout students' undergraduate years.

Among other requirements, students must study abroad for their first semester at one of the program's partnering institutions in Auckland, New Zealand; Athens, Greece; Rome, Italy; Newcastle, England; or Madrid, Spain.

Marsh credits her dad, Adam Marsh, a UD associate professor in the School of Marine Science and Policy, for introducing her to the beauty of New Zealand.