Study abroad 101: The basic facts

Black Collegian, Feb 1999 by Craig, Starlett

Study outside the United States is available and affordable for most full-time undergraduate students enrolled in a degree-seeking program. Exciting opportunities to earn college credit toward degree requirements combined with travel to a distant land is appealing to many students. Some students often provide testimony to their experiences abroad and volunteer to assist other students who wish to pursue study abroad. Returning students are the best evidence that we have to prove the value of study abroad. They are also well suited to serve in the advising process as peer counselors.

Ambassador Ruth A. Davis, director to The National Foreign Service Training Institute for the United States Department of State, can also attest to the merits of study abroad. Ambassador Davis credits her career path in the foreign service to an undergraduate experience in study abroad. As a Spelman student, she spent 16 months as a Merrill Scholar studying and traveling in Europe and the Middle East.

Today, Ambassador Davis speaks two foreign languages fluently and is in the highest echelon of our government preparing diplomats for the new millennium. Moreover, she is a powerful spokesperson for including diversity in every phase of American diplomacy.

One of her most powerful speeches, "Not for People Like You" describes her ability to overcome some of the challenges she faced as a youth when the world was not as open to diversity for all people, as it is now.

"Some people can point to the very day they decided to turn heaven and earth over, if that's what it took, to be successful in this life! I can do that! Let me tell you about it. When I was a teenager growing up in a very segregated South and I wanted to earn some spending change in the summertime to make my life a little more pleasant during the school year, I did not have the benefit of an `equal opportunity' or the luxury of a summer job program to help me locate suitable employment. So, I did domestic day work for a white family.

"One day, the lady of the house told me about her vacation in the Caribbean. She described beautiful islands, a veritable paradise. She said the workday was short. The people she knew worked only from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. I allowed as to how wonderful that was and hastened to add how much I'd love a work schedule like that.

"Without missing a beat, and without malice of forethought, this woman said to me, `But, Ruth, such a work schedule, that's not for people like you. I mean it's for professionals; professionals like my friends.' I was thunderstruck! Unknowingly, she had launched a challenge!"

"Years later, as I chatted amicably with King Juan Carlos of Spain, or on several occasions with Queen Sophia, I thought, Ah! Ha! This walking and talking with kings-is this for people like me?

"Similarly, and more recently, I pondered, are you sure that this is for people like you, when I experienced what had to be the most exciting moment of my life? I took a solitary but splendid walk down the red carpet to present my credentials as Ambassador, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Benin.

"I speak of myself not from pride or arrogance, but because I am grateful for my experiences. I cite these examples strictly as challenges to you to always look far beyond the nay sayers."

Living in a different country provides unique cultural immersion opportunities as well as the occasion to travel to more than one country and learn a different language. Study abroad is a vital link to obtaining a global perspective and the skills to live and work in an increasingly global society. Imagine being able to convert U.S. dollars to British pounds or French francs while traveling on an assignment in Europe. Imagine still the need to travel to a job sight in Munich and purchasing a few Deutsche marks from your local bank for immediate cash upon arrival. If you have your passport and you have traveled independently before you graduate from college, you are halfway to finding a job that will catapult you into the world of international business. The future will present many challenges to today's graduates and those who wish to jump-start their careers are setting their sights on international travel and study as an integral part of their undergraduate curriculum.

Suppose you are a college student who has dreamed of traveling to far off places for as long as you can remember. You watched "Mission Impossible" and imagined yourself in Prague not just during the filming process but involved in the intrigue of an international mystery. Perhaps you viewed exotic places on the Discovery channel or you may even be a regular viewer of CNN to capture world news for your political science or sociology class. Having been an armchair traveler for sometime now, you are probably ready to meet the challenge of study abroad. Study abroad is a vital link to global competence and very high on the list of practical skills that one learns is how to purchase goods and services with foreign currency. You will look at conversion rates and be able to do bargain shopping in the big department stores in France with the same skills that you employ at MACY'S. Even before you master the language, you master the monetary system and control your finances while getting acquainted with new customs, transportation systems, housing and school. Let's think about how savvy you will become before you have completed your first week of travel abroad. Some of the skills will be learned during the planning process before you leave your home campus! You already know the benefits. Let's see if we can answer some of the questions that are still lingering in your mind.