Back in February, I had an extremely vivid dream that the college I work for opened a branch campus in Tartu, Estonia, the country’s main “university town.” It was so clear, as not many dreams typically are, that the next day I brought an image of Estonia on a map along with some interesting facts to my team’s weekly meeting. Study Abroad Strategic Goals 2029.

Fast forward six months, and no, I am not in communications with any universities in Estonia, but I did have a “brain blast” of sorts as I walked down the long hallway between the bathroom and my office.

It was inspired, in part, by Greta Thunberg’s journey via solar-paneled boat over the Atlantic Ocean to attend a climate conference in New York City this month. In general, I only have one personal qualm with travel and with sending students of to study in far-away places, and it’s the carbon emissions tied in with every plane’s take-off and travel. I am a huge advocate for figuring out that problem, fast.

Working at a school where 90% of students study business, I often think long and hard about how to incorporate messages about consciously considering the world that we live in into programming. That’s exactly what this brain blast entailed:

On the way to the branch campus in Tartu, Estonia, students will travel across the US via train, and across the Atlantic Ocean via solar-paneled boat (or something that is carbon-neutral – hopefully). This journey would likely take 2 to 3 weeks, so on the way, students would take a course in sustainable or environmental management.

Now, the end-destination of Estonia is TBD. I think Estonia is a great match for Menlo College. MC has a strong entrepreneurial contingent, and while Estonia isn’t necessarily the first country on everyone’s mind when they think “entrepreneurial,” other countries invest in Estonia’s telecommunications and high technology sectors, and some Estonians boast Estonia as one of the “best countries in the world for start-ups.” You can read more about Estonia, its history, and its trajectory to becoming a “digital society” in this article by CNBC.

So Estonia is a great match, but when it comes to hosting a study abroad program that attempts to be environmentally conscious, Estonia isn’t optimally located. It’s far to the North, with Russia to the East, which requires a whole other visa situation, so your two closest visiting options are Finland across the Baltic Sea to the North, and Latvia to the South.

Latvia and Lithuania are great visits, as is Helsinki, Finland. But they’re also very, very cold in the winter. And students love traveling when they’re abroad. A more central location such as Prague, Budapest, Berlin or Vienna would likely suit these desires a bit better.

And then, of course, we can’t fly the students back. They would spend at minimum a full semester in Estonia (or whichever location), before traveling back via train and boat. Another course would be taught along the way. I would keep this a secret, but I fear I might forget myself…

What better way to incorporate reflection on your experience and consider how to utilize your new skills moving forward than to process everything through a Career Management course?

If you like this idea and have the power or connections to make it happen, I will recruit you to my team. Let’s get in touch.