Blinking her eyes after a long red-eye flight, Rosalyn Krueger stood in the airport terminal and saw signs she couldn’t read, heard words she couldn’t understand, and felt stares from people who didn’t look like her.
That began four weeks of exhausting treks through insect-infested jungles, meals of guinea pig and cow intestine, and encounters with anacondas.
“And I loved every second of it,” she said. “I wouldn’t hesitate to do it all over again.”
The four-week summer education abroad session that Krueger, a junior hospitality business management major, spent in Peru made her one of the 591 WSU students who studied abroad in the 2009 – 2010 academic year. Enrollment in education abroad programs has increased in recent years, and the International Programs department is hoping to send even more this year.
Hannah Nevitt, a WSU education abroad advisor and exchange coordinator, said many students see the value in adding travel to their college experience.
“It gives students the chance to truly become global citizens,” Nevitt said. “They will be able to connect with anyone and see things from a global perspective.”
Studying abroad also provided Krueger with a unique opportunity for hands-on learning she couldn’t get in a classroom.
“I got to experience the language, history and culture,” she said. “Not just read about them.”
Currently only about 2 percent of US college students study abroad, which is consistent with the rate at WSU. However, many more women than men choose education abroad with a ratio of about 60-to-40, according to the WSU International Programs department.
Nevitt said this is mainly due to the difference in male and female enrollment numbers, and also that more men major in engineering and science, which have more rigid schedules that make it hard to fit in credits abroad.
But even those who rule out studying abroad for practical reasons should rethink it, Nevitt said.
“The foreign language skills alone really set you apart on your resume,” she said. “And international experience is becoming more important to companies today.”
Krueger agrees, and said being thrown into an environment where only Spanish was spoken greatly improved her skills.
The International Programs department is looking to send more than 600 students abroad this year. Sarah Comstock, a junior communication major, is interested in being one of them.
“It would be a great opportunity for me to figure out who I am outside of college, and go on an adventure,” Comstock said. “And this is really the only time I’ll be able to travel without anything tying me down.”
Other students interested in education abroad should meet with an education abroad advisor in the International Programs department to discuss options suited to their goals.
“Even if someone doesn’t think they have the time or money to study abroad, they should try,” Krueger said. “It can change your life.”
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