Imagine heading off to college on a cruise ship.

Instead of settling in on a campus, you would visit eleven countries in just over 100 days.

That's what eight WKU students will do next week when they embark on Semester at Sea.

It's like a floating college. "Semester at Sea", sponsored by the uUniversity of Virginia, literally goes around the world with more than 500 students and seventy faculty on board.

WKU will have a real presence on Semester at Sea this fall when eight of our brightest students set sail on the trip of a lifetime.

WKU Scholar in Residence Bernard Strenecky knows what he's talking about. He's part of Semester at Sea's Alumni Board of Directors and the ship's Director of Service Learning.

Junior Kaitlin Hartley, of Versailles, is one of eight WKU Honors students preparing for the voyage.

Kaitlin and her Mom recently had a chance to ask last minute questions at a Semester at Sea orientation.

Nancy Hartley says she was on board with the opportunity pretty quickly after she heard about it.

The students will be stopping in places like India, China, Spain and Japan. While sailing from port to port, they will be immersed in studying each country's history and culture.

This will be the 100th voyage for Semester at Sea which has been around officially since the 1960's.

The cruise begins August 28th in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and ends December 14th in San Diego.