Twitter
Facebook
Reddit
Digg
Tell us what you think!Send a letter to the editor about this or any other article in The Maine Campus.
When University of Maine students consider studying abroad, the Office of International Programs wants their decision to be well informed.
The office holds a fair every semester to “make students aware of the opportunities there are to study abroad,” said graduate intern Andrea West. “It’s also an opportunity for students to get linked to resources.”
The study abroad fair will be held Wednesday, March 31, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Bangor Room of Memorial Union. The Honors College Study Away Symposium will run concurrently across the hall in the FFA Room, and starts at 12:15 p.m. The symposium will feature eight Honors College student speakers presenting their experiences abroad.
“They’ll talk about their personal experiences — whether it be academic, cultural, dealing with language — their experiences living in a community that’s foreign to them,” West said of the peer-oriented presentations.
West and OIP peer advisor Allison Rusk explained how students tend to have misconceptions about studying abroad.
The fair “is an opportunity to dispel some of these myths. The idea is that it is possible to study abroad,” West said. Students tend to have concerns about cost, language proficiency and graduating on time.
Rusk, who studied in England at the University of Reading in 2008, stressed the importance of studying abroad as a form of professional development. She said the workplace is increasingly global in scope and that many employers want workers with foreign language skills and international cultural awareness.
“I definitely recommend going, just because I think there are study abroad options for everyone,” Rusk said. Students who attend the fair “can see it’s possible if you just find out what programs work for you.”
The fair will include representatives from direct exchange programs — where students pay normal tuition and fees to UMaine while paying room and board to the host institution — and other study abroad organizations approved by UMaine.
UMaine senior Clare Jaquith will speak about her year of study in Austria at the symposium.
“Participating in the Salzburg [Austria] Program was great because they are a very established program that cares so much about the students and their welfare,” Jaquith wrote in an e-mail. “My German ability improved tenfold after spending a year immersed in the language.”
West encouraged all students with an interest in studying abroad to attend the fair.
“It will be like ‘information central;’ any questions you have will be answered,” West said.
