Experience
Student Stories & Mentors
Who better to share the transformative Semester at Sea experience than students themselves? You can chat with recent alumni directly via our Global Ambassador Program or Diversity Peer Mentor Program, or you can scroll below and explore more student stories!
Global Ambassador Program
Global Ambassadors are recent alumni who are still enrolled as undergraduate students — possibly at your campus or a campus near you! They are trained to answer questions you may have about the program and share their unique experiences.
Diversity Peer Mentor Program
Before and after each voyage, SAS can connect recent alumni with prospective voyagers who share similar identities. This is designed to be an informal mentoring program to share personal voyage experiences. Although we cannot guarantee to meet all mentorship requests, we will do our best to pair as many mentors and mentees as possible.
Voyager Vlogs
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ISE | 2026 State of the Institute
✨Home video from Embarkation Day!! #semesteratsea
Advice from our parents to our voyagers..🥹 #semesteratsea
Day 1 check-in with our voyagers...I think they might be excited?! #semesteratsea #voyage138
Get ready for the best 4 month at Semester at Sea!
Voyage138 We Can't Wait!
Voyage 138 Embarkation Day in Timelapse!
What Happens When You Ditch Wi-Fi for Semester at Sea #USD
What Semester at Sea Teaches You About Fraternity Leadership #msu
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Introducing our first Through the Lens feature for Voyage 138, Ulyssa Smeins, a senior Entrepreneurship and Retail Management major at Avans University of Applied Science.
“I’m used to photographing sports, chasing the fast moment, the split second where everything happens. Seeing Lisbon through a slow lens was the opposite. And it was eye-opening. I’ve been to Portugal before on vacation, but I was living it the fast way then. This time I brought my camera, and it gave me a reason to slow down. To stand still, to observe, and to appreciate the little things: the light in an alley, a conversation on a balcony, the quiet in between the busy.
That’s one of the biggest lessons Semester at Sea has taught me so far. We’re so caught up in our own lives that we forget to step back and actually look at the beauty the world is offering us. That’s what I tried to show with my day in Lisbon.”
If you’re considering Start at Sea, here’s one of the first things you’d do.
The New Student Seminar includes a one-day field class in the first port of call. For this group, that meant a team scavenger hunt through downtown Porto, lunch in the Ribeira quarter, and a Douro River cruise on a traditional Rabelo boat.
The point isn’t sightseeing. It’s learning to navigate somewhere unfamiliar, notice what’s around you, and build a network of peers you’ll spend the rest of the voyage with.
#semesteratsea #startatsea #gapyear #studyabroad #voyage138
Class is in session, and the classroom is Porto 🎶
Students in Exploring World Music, taught by Professor Henry Spiller, ethnomusicologist and professor emeritus at UC Davis, spent the day listening, describing, and asking questions: at Casa da Música, in a hands-on Portuguese guitar workshop at Casa da Guitarra, and at a live Fado performance.
The goal: use the vocabulary learned in class to talk with musicians and local audiences about what music means to them, and see how musical practices reflect social values.
This is what learning looks like when the whole world is your classroom. 🌍
#semesteratsea #worldmusic #porto #sasfa26 #voyage138
Voyage 138, we are so happy you are here! #semesteratsea #sas #studyabroad #sasfa26
Speed interviews at sea #semesteratsea #sas #studyabroad #speedinterview
What our students forgot to pack for four months at sea! #semesteratsea #packingtips #studyabroad
We have voyagers from all over the world sailing with us on 138! #semesteratsea #studyabroad #travel #voyage138 #sasfa26
Home video from Embarkation Day ✨ #semesteratsea #sas #studyabroad #homevideo
Day 1 check in with our voyagers… I think they might be excited?! #semesteratsea #voyage138 #studyabroad #travel
Voyage 138’s parents dropping wisdom for their students, what did they miss? #semesteratsea #parentadvice #studyabroad #sassp26 #voyage138
Welcome Voyage 138! We are SO excited to set sail! #semesteratsea #sasfa26 #voyage138 #studyabroad
Voyager embarkation has begun! #semesteratsea #studyabroad #sasfa26 #voyage138
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