Study
abroad makes students 'marketable'
By
Joseph Serna
Daily Forty-Niner
Contributing Writer
Whether it is to brush up on a second language or build up a résumé,
Cal State Long Beach’s studying abroad programs offer opportunities some
see as too good to pass up.
“If you’re a business major, I’d definitely [recommend going]
abroad,” said Nick Cortez, an international business student and alumni
of the program.
Cortez is part of a new trend. Studying abroad used to be an experience almost
exclusive to humanity and language majors, but now students from other majors
are starting to realize the opportunity to make international contacts pay
off later in their careers.
Cortez stayed in Germany for one academic year with the opportunity for a second
under CSULB’s most popular study abroad program, the CSU International
Program (IP), which involves all 23 California State University campuses and
is run through the Chancellor’s Office.
“The possibility [to network] was definitely there,” Cortez said.
He admittedly didn’t seize every opportunity available, but he has an internship
waiting for him as a result of the program.
“What’s the best way to build a network? As wide as possible,” said
Ine Williams, the study abroad adviser. “You never know who these people
will turn out to be in the future.”
Depending on the country, students may face being taught in another language
and living around residents who don’t speak English, forcing them to
adapt to another culture, which is an invaluable experience.
“It would be such an asset being bilingual and charging into the workforce,” said
Camden DeLong, IP alumni and international business student.
If it is simply a change of scenery and avoiding congested parking lots that
is motivation for studying elsewhere, the IP program has all the usual countries
along with two new locations, Ghana and South Africa, offered in fall 2006.
This will be the first time students have had the opportunity to go to Africa
since the Zimbabwe program was discontinued three years ago. After Zimbabwe’s
elections a few years ago and a bombing in a university cafeteria there, the
23 CSU campuses and their representatives were searching for countries that
were politically and economically stable. They found what they were looking
for in Ghana and South Africa, Fidora said.
There are four study abroad programs offered on campus, with the IP program
being the most popular because of the length of visit and relatively low cost.
Other programs include the CSULB Direct Exchange which is run exclusively through
CSULB and involves sending a specific number of students to a country for one
or two semesters in exchange for a similiar number from that country coming
to our school.
The other possibilities include the London Semester, which offers internship
and touring possibilities while being taught by Cal State University Fullerton,
San Diego and Long Beach faculty, who also stay there. There is also the Spain
or Italy Summer Program, an eight-week studying program in Alicante, Spain,
or Florence, Italy. Like the London semester, students are taught by CSU faculty
and have opportunities to tour the area.
The convenience of going through any of these programs is the fact that the
units are transferable back to CSULB, according to Larry Sepassi, an IP alumni
and biology student. There is a process to make sure applicants meet the minimum
GPA, generally between 2.75 and 3.00, and have hadd one or two semesters of
the country’s language, and can actually afford the cost of the program.
However, according to alumni like Cortez, after the initial semester which
is transferable to CSULB, students might have a problem getting subsequent
classes to count for credit here.
“The second semester we don’t know what we’re going to take,” Cortez
said. Because of that fact, transferring the units isn’t guaranteed and
students are struggling to get their units to transfer in a timely manner, if
at all Cortez said. Even with the trouble, Cortez has no regrets about his experience
he said.
“That’s why we’re here,” said Williams, the study abroad
adviser. She said the right preparation, including going over classes you might
take down the road, can make for a smooth transition back to campus.
Cecilia Fidora, the assistant director for the center of international education
for study abroad services, said every time a student returns from abroad she
sees a change. It was not just the hair color or the tan, she said, but that
students carry themselves differently after being in another culture for so
long.
“I think our students return much more marketable and confident,” Fidora
said.
That confidence is a result of living and working with a different population
and being immersed in a culture students may have only heard of but never really
experienced, she said.
“Seeing it, touching it, tasting it is really one of the best experiences,” said
Sepassi. “It’s the No. 1 experience of your college career.”
“You learn so much about the world,” said Rachel Gardner, a Spanish
major who lived in Spain for a year. “It’s an experience that makes
you grow more than you can imagine.” |
