Bonjour tout le monde!
My name is Cordarius Enright and I’m a Junior, International Business major with a concentration in supply chain management. I’m also minoring en Francais (hence the French introduction). You may have seen me at a Hogs Abroad 101 session or our weekly info table as this is my 3rd year as a Peer Advisor in the Study Abroad Office.
The time is finally here for me to choose a program and embark on another life-changing experience. I have debated, I have stressed, and I have cried (okay, maybe not cried but definitely stressed and debated) an ample amount of time on where I should study abroad and what I should study abroad. I’ve grown so accustomed to advising students about how, when, and where they should study abroad, and I’m just now realizing it’s much more difficult to choose a program than I thought! Now the tables have turned and here I am, that student who’s meticulously flipping through each page of every program searching for the best fit.
I finally settled on our U of A Faculty-Led program: International Business Seminar in Panama. I chose this program because I truly wanted to broaden my horizon. I have traveled to England, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, so I didn’t find it self-sufficient to return since I’ve experienced the culture before. With the Panama program I know that I will receive inside information about logistics that many students don’t have a chance to witness. I also took my future career in consideration because I know that many companies are searching for students that have had some abroad experience (only about 2% of students study abroad if you didn’t know, and of course, let’s face it, we all want a nice paying job!). Also, the faculty leader for this program is a former professor of mine and I enjoyed his course as well as his teaching method, so I knew that this program would be suitable for me.
If you’re that stressed-out student reading this blog post, unsure of where and what study abroad, one piece of advice I would give you is to remain focused on your goal of WHY you want to study abroad and WHAT you can take back from the experience. I’ll admit, the deadlines, the essay writing, and the paperwork begins to boggle you down so much that you may being to lose sight of the experience while trying to get to the experience. I would also advise that you open your mind and consider ALL options. You may KNOW you’re going to study abroad in Australia (as I thought I did), you may KNOW you’re traveling with a specific program (I thought I would travel on an external program) BUT, when you begin searching and considering the plethora of options, your perception changes and you may end up traveling to the complete opposite side of the world than you originally planned!
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Some of our U of A faculty-led programs have extended their application deadlines to February 16. Look at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/U_of_A_programs/ to find out more!
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Cordarius Enright, Study Abroad Peer Advisor
