A group of SUNY Oswego students travel the world as part of a unique winter break experience: A two week trip to Africa was part of "Oswego Goes Global." Our Candace Hopkins has more on the program and SUNY Oswego's increased dedication to international learning.

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OSWEGO, N.Y. -- For SUNY Oswego junior Stefanie Cornnell, this past winter break was an experience she will never forget.

"It took awhile for it to actually hit me that I had summited Mount Kilimanjaro," Cornnell said.

It was a class, and an experience, like no other, as 15 SUNY Oswego students climbed Mount Kilimanjaro during their winter break as part of Oswego Going Global, an initiative to help Oswego's students expand their education on an international level.

Senior Nicholas Hackenfort was just one of those students and says the trip allowed him to expand his view of the world.

"I feel this program specifically really helps students get a sense of different cultures in the world. We're very sheltered in the United States. A lot of kids go to college, they don't really realize, they see the news, what's going on outside the country, but to actually step outside your comfort zone and go to another culture and really immerse yourself in it, is something a lot of people probably don't get the experience," Hackenfort said.

The two week trip to Tanzania was the final portion of a fall semester class which earned each student three credits for completion. Dr. Mehran Nojan, co-founder of Oswego Going Global, says it is just one part of Oswego's initiative to get more students involved in study abroad curriculums.

"We provide opportunities for the student to actually interact with the different cultures, rather than reading about the culture and in that experience, we are hoping that they broaden their view of the world, hopefully they become a more engaged global citizen," said Nojan.

After spending eight days climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, the group was given the opportunity to visit a local school. For students, that experience was the most eye-opening part of their entire trip.

"It was amazing just being able to interact with them and being able to see them and see their smiles and they were a little scared of us at first and then they would come up and talk to us, well, not talk to us, but they would just interact with us and that was just an amazing experience for me. I had never experienced anything like that in my life," said Hackenfort.

It is those experiences of learning about a radically different way of life that these students say will stick with them much longer than anything they learn in an average class.

The program cost each student about $3,000, but organizers say they hope to raise private funds to provide scholarships for students unable to afford the fee for future trips.

The class is expected to be offered again next fall.