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A record 200 students applied to study abroad programs for the fall 2013 semester, compared to a semesterly average of 120 students.
UNM’s Global Education Office upped the advertising it has done for the program during the past few months, which included public fairs and in-class presentations, said Jason Jones, student adviser and recruitment coordinator for GEO’s study abroad program.
The University is trying to raise its study abroad student numbers, Jones said.
“We have more students that want to come to UNM from other countries than those who we are sending abroad,” Jones said. “So, what (GEO) is doing is trying to get more UNM students to consider taking their education abroad. In general we get around 150 percent more students than we send out.”
Jones said students become more independent and develop academically when studying abroad.
Senior Lizzie Scripsick, a biology major, studied abroad for one semester in Granada, Spain, during 2011. She said she felt the program helped her grow personally.
“For the first time in my life my parents couldn’t be there in two hours if I needed them. I was on my own, so I had to grow up,” she said. “You’ve got to figure out a way to talk to people, how to work your way through the system. You have to be confident or else you’re not going to do it.”
Scripsick also enjoyed academic improvement after studying abroad.
“I used to be an A or B student before I went, but I made straight As after I came back,” she said. “I think part of the reason for that was the confidence that I could do anything when I came back, I was sure I could get As.”
Jones also said that going to developing countries instead of developed ones can be beneficial because of the difference in daily life.
“I think the more undeveloped of a country you go to, the more it hits you,” Jones said. “So, if you’re going to India or certain parts of Africa, you come back and you want to participate more in your community, do volunteer work and see how you can make a difference. That’s what we find in the students who come back.”
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Senior Natalie Peña, a business major, was in Bangalore, India from 2011 to 2012. She said she had planned to stay there for half a semester, but decided to stay for a year.
“At first it was difficult. In the first three weeks, I didn’t even know if I was going to last the whole thing, because I was staying in Bangalore. Right outside (the city) there’s the biggest slum in India, so you get to see things that you never see here,” Peña said. “Everything is in your face, there’s a lot of poverty.
But we are humans and we can change and get used to something. And I knew wonderful people and I decided to stay.”
Upon her return, she started a student organization called Women Empowerment Developing Global Leadership. Peña said her organization has so far hosted the End It Movement campaign against human trafficking, which included a vigil and an all-day symposium in the SUB. The organization also offers workshops on other social justice topics determined by the organization’s members. She said that going to India expanded her perspective of her community.
“It’s very different when you’ve actually lived there, then you’re able to add value to your community when you come back because you’ve actually experienced it,” Peña said. “And after I came back, I started my own student organization, so I do think you come back willing to participate more.”
