Every student has been there. Sitting in a lecture hall, waiting for your class to start so you can promptly fall asleep or daydream about some far-off destination where you would rather be (probably somewhere with more sun).
But then someone stands up at the front of the class and gives a brief presentation about study abroad opportunities through the University.
Most students simply blow off the presentation, deciding that their summer is too important to spend going to classes away from working, friends and family. Many do not even care to hear about the details of any of the programs.
Those students do not realize that they are zoning out as someone presents them with information to make their daydreams a reality.
Students have an opportunity to touch any corner of the globe they wish, and they can do so while being productive, efficient and safe.
With Oregon study abroad programs, you can earn credit that will help acquire nearly any major or minor. Many also offer internship or job opportunities while on location.
But above all else, with an open mind and the right situation, every student can have a life-changing experience while abroad.
Many students need to fulfill foreign language requirements for their degrees, and there are few programs better suited to accomplish this than Querétaro, Mexico. Students can earn an entire year’s worth of credits (12) in as few as five or six weeks in the summer. It is also one of the most cost-effective programs offered through the University, and any financial aid a student receives can be applied.
However, the Mexico program is one that is often overlooked by students.
Though the program offers classes in the fall, spring and 3 different summer term options, many students consider the stereotypes associated with Mexico and quickly dismiss the idea. They buy into the notion that all of Mexico is dangerous right now, that Mexican citizens are hostile towards Americans, and that if they were to study in Mexico they would be living in a poor social situation.
The students that pass up this opportunity for those close-minded and ill-researched justifications need this program more than anyone.
The city of Querétaro is statistically the safest large city in the entire country of Mexico, with the second largest police force in the nation behind Mexico City. The culture in Querétaro is one of the warmest and most welcoming in the world with few exceptions among the native citizens. Lastly, in staying with the host families that the program utilizes to accelerate immersion into the culture, each home and family is screened and approved by the program directors. No student would ever be placed in a situation that even resembles poverty in the modern world.
For those students that have gone to Mexico, hardly any are ready to return to the U.S. when their time in Querétaro is over. Even after just five weeks students feel a connection with the city, the country and the people of Mexico. A connection that will not be lost once their flight touches down on American soil.
Mexico is not unlike programs in Ghana or Southeast Asia; many get overlooked in favor of destinations that look more appealing on television or magazines.
Study abroad is not about sitting on a beach in Italy or doing a keg stand in Germany. It really doesn’t even have to center around your studies, which according to parents is why you are supposed to go abroad to begin with.
Save Italy for a vacation, and you won’t learn much from your blurred memories of German binge-drinking.
Open your eyes and minds to something you never would have experienced otherwise. If you do so, you will find more substance in a culture than you ever thought possible. You can learn to appreciate the people of these societies and how their lives are not so different from your own.
More importantly, you will discover things within yourself you never knew existed. Each person defines their own study abroad experience, but in the end the time away from the US can define who you become.
That alone makes getting out of that lecture hall in Oregon and going abroad worth the trip.