Most college students at some point in their undergraduate program have an opportunity to narrow their focus within their college. In fact, many students choose their university because they want to study with leading faculty in their field.

At Colorado State University, students also have the opportunity to gain practical experience through internships or the study abroad program.  According to  CSU’s Office of International program’s webpage, their core value structure allows them to serve the diverse population of CSU students who wish to experience education abroad.

International students who come to CSU bring new cultural perspectives to the classroom. For example, Justine Derouallière is from Nîmes, France, and studies agriculture at Purpan in Toulouse. She did ride horses at home, but they are not available to study as part of her university curriculum. Since CSU’s College of Agriculture has an equine sciences program, she had the opportunity to focus on equine courses this fall.

Her junior and senior level classes include equine reproduction, equine disease management, preparation of horses for equine competition, and equine event and sales management. She speaks and writes English in all of classes, quickly made friends, and joined the English Riding Club.

One difference in riding that quickly became apparent to her was the western-style with the large tooled leather saddle and horn. Half of the students in the program ride this type of saddle and many come from western states or ranching backgrounds. She also experienced dressing up for Halloween for the first time with the English Riding club and went to their celebration as a cowboy.

Her experience at CSU has been so exciting that she has applied to come back for a master’s degree in equine reproduction.

Dixie Crowe is a blogger and can be reached at blogs@collegian.com.