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IU South Bend offers many study abroad programs that give students the opportunity to experience the world from a different perspective and develop an arsenal of employable skills and attributes for success in the competitive job market and the school of daily life.
“Gaining confidence, self-reliance, getting along with people and appreciating diversity are some of the many personal advantages of studying abroad,” said Dr. Scott Sernau, professor of sociology and director of International Programs.
Dr. Sernau hosted an overseas annual study celebration called “Global Celebration” in Northside 245 on February 24. Students from past trips gave presentations and shared their experiences through interesting stories and photos.
“One thing that was really helpful about the study abroad program[s] is that it set me apart on my applications for MBA programs,” said Roy Saenz.
Saenz is a sociology major and a Latin American studies minor and has been on many overseas trips with the IUSB study abroad program. Saenz has been on the Language, Culture, and Society trip to Cuernavaca Mexico and twice to Costa Rica for the Sustainable Development trip.
“The second time I went to Costa Rica I did an extension with a sister school in Nicaragua,” said Saenz. “It was awesome and completely different than Costa Rica even though it was only 60 miles away from where I stayed in the colonial city of Grenada.”
Saenz has acquired the knowledge, skill and experience to strengthen his résumé and graduate school applications, which, so far, have led to a provisional offer from the University of Arizona as well as an independent study in Argentina.
“It gave me the knowledge to develop my own independent study abroad program in Argentina,” said Saenz. “I was responsible for planning the trip myself in conjunction with the language schools.”
The development of knowledge, independence and confidence in overseas studies always starts with the strong and accommodating guidance of IUSB faculty. Professor John Davis, resident director of the Mexico trip and senior lecturer of Spanish, has led the trip to Cuernavaca four times and is preparing for his fifth in July 2010.
“The Resident Director is there to assist the students with the transition into the culture and to resolve any issues that may occur,” said professor Davis. “I have taken a number of students who have never been out of the country or on an airplane and they have had overwhelmingly positive experiences adapting to the culture.”
Students not only gain the experience of studying abroad, but they also receive credits at the university. The Cuernavaca Mexico trip is a six credit, four week program during the Summer II session.
“The students study in language schools where the class sizes are no larger than five students and the instructor,” said Professor Davis. “There is more opportunity for individual attention.”
Student who have been on the study abroad programs learn a lot in their area of study and a lot in the school of daily life. These students return home with a greater perspective and a worldliness that inspires a new vision of life on Earth.
“Your level of fluency in Spanish dramatically increases, you gain a lot of friends and you get to learn about some of the economic and social issues that may plague different parts of the world,” said Daniel Chmielewski. “This gives us a perspective of what recourses we have as citizens of the U.S. and inspires us to promote responsible development that benefits the places we have been.”
Chmielewski went on the Cuernavaca trip in the summer of 2007 and to Lima, Perú in spring 2009.
This year’s study abroad programs include Sustainable Development in Costa Rica (spring break), Marine Biology in Belize (May) and Language, Culture, and Society in Mexico (July).
For more information on program specifications, scholarships, applications and deadlines for the study abroad programs, visit the Office of International Programs website at www.iusb.edu/~sbintl/index.shtml.
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