Annual Study Abroad Fair will be held on Tuesday

The annual Study Abroad Fair will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 13from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Ferguson Student Center’s second floor main lobby. The event, sponsored by the Capstone International Program, is open to any students who wish to learn more about study abroad opportunities.Representatives from affiliate providers, the exchange program and the 2012 faculty-led programs will have booths set up to answer questions and provide information to students who are interested in studying abroad.

The Study Abroad Fair is a great way for students to get information directly by talking to affiliate providers who are experts on their programs, and to see in one place all the programs you can choose from,said Study Abroad Coordinator Brittnay McMillain.The University offers a wide variety of study abroad opportunities, and students are not required to know a foreign language to participate. Some destinations include: England, New Zealand, Egypt, China, Greece, Belgium, Italy, Spain and Sweden. Destinations vary based on major and the region students wish to travel to.

The Study Abroad Fair gives students a chance to ask questions and learn more about studying abroad. Capstone International Agent Melissa Smith said visiting a past Study Abroad Fair helped her to narrow down her choices when she was deciding where to study abroad.Tara Northington, a junior currently living in Spain while she studies Spanish for her minor, said that her experience has been wonderful so far.I’m staying for four months with a host family, and I picked a UA affiliated program called ISA, which has gone above and beyond my expectations already,Northington said.The directors and staff have helped us with anything we need and are taking us on multiple excursions around Spain while we’re here. We are even getting to go to Morocco for five days.

Holly Buckner, the director of CIAP, encourages students to study abroad on the Capstone International academic study programs website.Study-abroad is an opportunity for students to shift their perspective and view the world through an entirely different lens,Buckner said. When you travel, you learn more about yourself and your culture as you interact with citizens of another. And you undoubtedly come home with a respect and appreciation for your host country rivaled only by that for your homeland.For more information throughout the year, students can join the Study Abroad Connections club or contact Capstone International Agents, a group of interns at the Capstone International Program who have studied abroad within the past year. Academic advisors are available year round in 135 B.B. Comer Hall to meet with students and help them plan their study abroad trips.I would recommend that students study abroad, because, as Mark Twain says,Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness’,said Francine James, professor of an International Honors seminar that prepares students to maximize their study abroad experiences.