Moorpark College is providing an opportunity for students to study abroad in Peru during the summer session of classes in 2023. The opportunity is open to all students in the Ventura County Community College District.

Students involved in the study abroad program must enroll in Math M12: Mathematical Reasoning, which is taught by Professor Renee Butler. Math M12 focuses on the use of math in everyday life. The month-long class begins May 22, 2023 and will include the 11 day trip to Peru.

In the summer of 2019, a study abroad program to Italy and Greece was hosted by Moorpark College. In this excursion, Professor Renee Butler, Professor Nick Pappas and 11 students toured famous sites such as the Spanish Steps, the Acropolis, Pompeii and the Colosseum.

Another similar trip was planned to visit Ecuador in 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The upcoming learning opportunity in Peru is organized by travel agency EF College Study Tours. Students who go on the trip will have the chance to visit places such as Lima, Machu Picchu, Ollantaytambo and Lake Titicaca. Students will also participate in a service project to help out the local community.

Butler, who expressed excitement at getting to accompany around 20 students to Peru this coming summer, has been teaching math for 30 years now. Butler attended her own study abroad trip to Tahiti in 2004 for a marine biology course and believes teacher-led study abroad programs to be very meaningful.

“We will discover math in the everyday Peruvian life by learning about their art, government, history, culture and much more,” Butler said. “This is also a service project in which we will be working on a project for a local community to help out in a meaningful way.”

“Students will be immersed in the culture working with the community, as well as learning about their art, food, history and everyday life. It will be a trip of a lifetime,” Butler added.

According to EF College Study Tours, there are also some academic performance advantages to study abroad programs.

“Students who studied abroad saw 100% greater improvement in GPA ,” EF College Study Tours states. “93% of students who studied abroad and entered the workforce were employed within 6 months of graduation, compared to 49% who did not study abroad.”

Ayush Gupta, a chemical physics student at University of California Davis, studied abroad last summer in Italy. His group saw famous sites like the Colosseum, the Vatican, the Pantheon and the Roman catacombs. Gupta says the program was unlike anything he had done before.

“It’s a good eye opening experience, especially for people who haven’t been out of the country and seen what life is like,” Gupta said. “It’s a whole different type of environment. Everybody should do it, if they have the opportunity.”

Click here to learn more about the summer 2023 trip to Peru. There are currently 2 spots left for the opportunity, and the window to enroll will close at 9 p.m. on Monday, November 28. To learn more about the trip or sign up for the program, email Professor Butler at [email protected].