Visit the Education Abroad Fair to hear from staff, program representatives and alumni about how to travel to another country through CSU.
After being delayed due to the Fort Collins flooding in September, the Education Abroad Fair will be held on November 15 in the LSC North Ballroom.
“(At the fair, students) are going to get a wide range of information in a quick amount of time,” said Chris Churma, Education Abroad Coordinator. “They can quickly do a comparison of programs, to really see what would fit them best, and hopefully it’s a driving force to come into the office to get more in-depth information. It’s really a great opportunity for the student who doesn’t know where to begin.”
Kristen Goulet, a senior Foreign Languages & Literature major who helped organize the Education Abroad Fair, said that the rescheduling was an inconvenience.
“With the flood delay, we had to kind of re-think our idea, including even where we wanted (the fair) to be,” Goulet said.
Despite organizational difficulties however, Goulet believes that attending the fair will be a great way for students to understand abroad experiences from resources other than a CSU study abroad advisor.
Churma also said that the variety of resources available at the fair will aid students’ understanding of the education abroad programs available.
“(At the fair, students) are looking at programs, but there are also opportunities to talk to alumni, learn about scholarship opportunities… really things beyond just learning about program locations,” Churma said.
The Education Abroad Fair will be spread out through several different rooms in and around the LSC North Ballroom, and students will receive a map of the many booths upon entering.
“The different types of programs will be represented in different rooms,” said Laura Thornes, Director of International Programs at CSU. “So if you want to go on any of the CSU sponsored programs, those will be in one room, and then we’ll have another room of a lot of our program providers and sponsors that work with programs that supplement what CSU does, and then we’ll have a third room that focuses on the non-traditional education abroad.”
While visiting the fair, students with an interest in studying abroad can quickly get an idea of what programs may best suit their needs.
“Students can come in (to the fair) and talk to these representatives, and they can get a sense right away if ‘this is a program that I need to look more into,’ or ‘this is a program that’s not going to fit my needs,’” Churma said. “(Then, students will) hopefully go to the next table or few tables and find a couple of options that do fit what they’re looking for.”
The goal of the fair is to generate excitement about going abroad, subsequently leading students into the Education Abroad office, according to Churma. Studying abroad is often an important part of students’ college experience.
“If you ask any alumni, they’ll probably tell you that the decision to study abroad was the most rewarding experience they had in their college career,” Churma said. “The long-term impact is the key thing to studying abroad. A lot of students come back, maybe completely changing their major or career ideas… but also, I think a big (effect) is the discovery of self.”
Collegian Reporter Ellie Mulder can be reached at news@collegian.com.
