7 l * — '-r—r jjiapuo/^ anjq pji/yv atp oj jjo s^j iAga^g put? dn ‘d s—^ Scholarship, you are eligible for a $1,000 summer study abroad scholarship. Recipients must have at least an overall 3.00 GPR, must be taking study abroad courses which are approved by A&M and must register for a minimum of six credit hours for the summer study abroad program. F^izk-Finne says the benefits of studying abroad far outweigh the costs that accompany such programs. She says that studying abroad makes learning take on a whole new meaning since you see what you’re learning. It makes one examine personal values and become more tolerant of other cultures. “Studying abroad helps prepare you for the kinds of things you face on a job, ” she adds. “It’s the kind of thing an employer looks at because that applicant has done something really special and can deal with unforeseen situations. On a professional level it really makes you grow tremendously. ” Ted Callahan, a senior geophysics major, echoes Rizk- Finne’s arguments, adding that studying abroad opens one’s eyes to the way America is. “It gives you a backdrop in which to view things and gives you perspective,” he says. “It makes you stand away from yourself. ” Callahan was one of the first A&M students to study at Stirling University in Scotland from 1984 to 1985. He got involved with the program because he had always wanted to study abroad and chose Scotland on a whim when he walked into the Study Abroad Office and the flyers for the program had just come off the mimeograph machine. He said that his year in Scotland did put off his graduation for a year, but that it was worth it. “I think about it sometimes, and I can’t imagine a year of my life I would have rather spent in any other way, ” he says. “There’s no reasonably imaginable thing I would have rather been doing. It took up the time, but I can’t imagine spending it in a better way. ” T A he program that Callahan participated in was a reciprocal exchange program. The Study Abroad Office currently offers three such programs with different foreign universities: Tubingen University in Germany, University of Stirling in Scotland and the Monterrey Institute of Technology in Mexico. A minimum grade-point ratio of 3.0 is required for all three programs, and language proficiency is a must for students planning to study in both Germany and Mexico. All the programs last one full year and participants live in dormitories with the other students in the university. The exchange programs are designed for students entering their junior year, but the places are limited, so admission to the programs is highly competitive. Students who wish to study in places where A&M has no program can find help from other U.S. institutions, independent study abroad programs, or the foreign institutions themselves. However, any of these options could involve problems with transferring credits, so students should make sure their overseas studying will count when transferred back to A&M. Finally, the Study Abroad Office can provide interested students with information about international internships which are available through Educational Programs Abroad and Beaver College. Although interns are not paid for their work, they gain valuable work experience abroad and possibly some academic credit. C V^>allahan says that he has only found one main drawback in studying abroad — coming back. He says that it took almost a year to readjust to American culture since he expected to come back to what he had left behind. Instead, he found that things looked different because his experiences abroad had changed his perspectives. He says that he would like to try studying abroad again, but that he’s almost scared to. “I can’t believe that any place is as nice as that was,” he says. “There’s a kind of dread that when and if I go back, it can’t possibly be as good as I remembered it. ” Summer Study Abroad Hie summer study abroad programs offered by A&M usually attract more people than do the regular semester programs as many students would prefer not to fall behind in their courses. The Study Abroad Office currently is offering a dozen programs for the summer of 1987. First, through a joint effort by the Colleges of Liberal Arts and Architecture and Environmental Design, seven separate programs will be offered in six different countries. Italy will host both an undergraduate and a graduate level program this summer. Students in the undergraduate level program will choose six hours of course work from the following: ARTS 111 (Drawing I), ARTS 350 (Arts and Civilization), ARTS 485 (Problems), HUMA 201 (Music Appreciation: Survey of tie Italian Masters) and THAR 305 (Theatre and Civilization). Graduate students will choose their course work from ARCH 647 (Recordding Historical Buildings) and ARCH 685 (Problems). AH courses wtfl be taught in English by A&M faculty members, so no previous knowledge of Italian is necessary. The students will be in Italy May 20 through June 25 and will study and lodge at La Poggerina, a converted monastery outside of Florence and will travel to Venice, Parma, Assisi and Sienna. They will also be allowed free time to travel to neighboring cities and countries during their stay in Italy, The United Kingdom will serve as homebase for another study abroad program for undergraduates from July 11 through Aug 14. The classes taught include ENGL 231 (Survey of English Literature), HIST 213 (History of England) and GEOG 489 (Historical Geography of Britain). The partidpants will be taking morning classes at Imperial College, London, and making exploratory trips in and around London. They will also spend two weeks in Scotland, studying at the University of Stirling and visiting Glasgow and Edinburgh, and one week at Keble College, Oxford, visiting Bath, Stratford-upon-Avon and Stonehenge. Finally, the students will have a chance to tour the countryside, exploring Hadrian’s Wall, the Pennines, Durham, York, Nottingham and Sherwood Forests, Winchester, Canterbury and Cambridge. Graduate students will also be visiting the United Kingdom during both summer sessions. Through the College of Education, graduate students will spend 4Vz weeks studying in and visiting London, Oxford University. Wales, the lake country of England, and Scotland. Students participating in the program during the first summer session will tke two courses, one in teaching the basic concepts of mathematics and tire other in social studies in elementary and secondary education. During the Second summer session program, students will take two courses in Educational Curriculum and Instruction, one which allows students to study English, Welsh and Scottish Literature, the other which emphasizes the comparative study of English/Language Arts. The other four programs offered by the College of Liberal Arts involve studies of the modem languages, with Spain, France, Germany and Russia each playing host to a program. Students wifi spend six weeks in the country of their choice and will gain first-hand experience in speaking the language of the land. A minimal knowledge of the specific language is a prerequisite and students will gain six hours credit for their work. Partidpants will be living with a host family during their four weeks of studying and then travel with the rest of the A&M group for the remaining two weeks. The College of Engineering offers a short, non-academic tour for students interested in exploring engineering abroad. Offered between the spring semester and first summer term, the two-week program involves touring German and Hungarian factories. Partidpants stay with local families. The College of Business Administration offers students two chances to study business trends overseas. During the first summer session, students will visit Europe with a program coordinated solely by the Colege of Business Administration. During foe second summer session, from July 11 through Aug. 7, business students can become a part of a very special and unique study program in foe Orient. The program involves an In-depth look into the business-government relationship in Japan, Korea and Hong Kong. The seminar-style class (MGMT489: The Orient: Comparative Legal Environment of Business) will be combined with on-site visits to corporate offices, financial institutions, legislative bodies and regulatory agendes in each of foe countries. Studente interested in any of foe above programs, or in any other type of overseas studying, should contact the Study Abroad Office in Room 161 BizzeH Hall West for more information.