#globaluprogram

[utahabroad]

Exploring Taiwan through Language Immersion

By: Maureen Petty

Program: National Taiwan University

Term: Academic Year 2017-2018

“Learning abroad is an invaluable experience that I believe one must go through in order to become fluent in their language of choice. Not only does learning abroad help improve your language skills, but you will also learn about the local culture which is a very important component to learning a language.”

Earning the Language Immersion Badge:

Living and studying in Taiwan for ten months has given me the opportunity to be immersed in a Chinese speaking country where I could practice my language skills daily and improve my language skills at a much faster rate than I would in the United States. Being immersed in a society in which they speak the language you are studying is such an invaluable experience, and a must if you hope to gain fluency in the language. Besides improving my language skills, I was also able to learn a lot about the culture of Taiwan, which is a very important component to learning a language. Not only am I better at communicating using Chinese, but I am also able to understand and communicate with those who come from Taiwan as I can understand their culture and norms. By learning abroad in Taiwan and immersing myself into their language and culture, I am better able to understand the people and the language, which will ultimately help me in the professional world where I hope to use my Chinese language skills. Learning abroad has given me a once in a lifetime experience that has enhanced my overall student experience at the University of Utah.

Transferable Skills

In the future I hope to either go into international business or work for the government in national security. Chinese is a very important language for both of those jobs. By knowing Chinese and understanding the culture, I will be able to use Chinese in a professional setting, whether it is giving a business proposal to Chinese business partners or translating transcripts for the state department. Learning abroad has also helped me in school, as I am better able to communicate and understand my Chinese classes here at the University of Utah. Learning abroad has also helped me become more open with the international students on campus, as I know what they are going through.

[danieinslclove-blog]

I am so happy that I earned the Language Immersion and the Career Development Badges for the #globaluprogram at the University of Utah while I was studying in Siena, Italy this summer! #utahabroad has given me many opportunities to achieve many of my academic and professional goals, and I am very thankful I was able to study abroad in a wonderful location to work towards them.  Thanks again #utahabroad and #globaluprogram! 

[writingaliaabroad-blog]

Global U Program

The badge I most want to earn while I’m in London is the Career Development badge. This badge is important to me because it will help me the most in my future. While in London, I plan on researching what I can on writing and theater jobs. This will help me with my goals as well. My personal goal is to become more comfortable in places and situations I’ve never been in before, academically help me pursue even more my chosen fields of study, and my professional goal of finding a career I’m passionate about. I’m so excited to learn more while I’m in London!

[fancytravelpants-blog]

GLOBAL U BADGE GOALS

CAREER DEVELOPMENT - RESEARCH EXPERIENCE 

To become the anthropologist and health worker I am aspiring to be I need to be able to move fluidly through another culture, while leaving any form of ethnocentrism behind me, and conduct research. The career development and research experience badges offered through the Global U program will be my guild to these pursuits. These will push me to grow into a both interpersonal and researched based career, as well as to aid in my own personal growth. I am absolutely looking forward to my Learning Abroad faculty led program in Tonga. 

[jjwangtravels-blog]

Career Development through Learning Abroad

I am currently seeking to earn a career development badge through my learning abroad trip to South Korea and China. I believe this badge will help further my professional goals through involving me in learning experiences that are relevant to my future career. Only about two months til I go! Can’t wait! 

[ruthieurq-blog]

While abroad I will learn community engagement and research experience by going to Ghana 2-3 weeks early and stay 2 weeks after the Learning Abroad program. Working with a group in 20 communities, we will provide them with basic skills in preventive health.

[utahabroad]

Exploring Spain through Language Immersion

By: Jackson Keller

Program: USAC Spain: Spanish, Basque, European Studies, and Psychology in San Sebastian

Term: Summer 2017

“My program was an enjoyable experience. The memories I have from it will always be among my most cherished, and my experiences abroad will always play a pivotal role in my past. But it also changed my perspective on everyday life, realigning my priorities, enabling me to realize what I enjoy, and giving me the confidence to chase that.”

Earning the Language Immersion Badge:

While abroad, I earned the Language Immersion Badge. I earned this badge through the classes I took: an advanced grammar course, a conversation course, and a poetry course. These courses certainly helped with my fluency and language abilities. I refined my grammar and reviewed difficult grammatical concepts in a way that has permanently improved my Spanish. I continued to work on oral conversation skills. I learned vocabulary unique to poetry, but also gained a deeper appreciation for the beauty of the Spanish language, as well as the elements of this beauty that reside in the nuances of words themselves, nuances that cannot be translated exactly to any other language. However, I also learned just as much, if not more, outside of my classes. I lived with a host family, I made Spanish friends, I attended cultural events, I spoke to strangers. For whole days I would think entirely in Spanish, forgetting English and truly immersing myself. I learned the things that can only be mastered through practice of the language. I learned about the exceptions to the rules. I learned colloquial "lived" Spanish – the language of real life. I learned how to navigate a new culture with a second language, and how to make a new city feel like home. 

Transferable Skills:

The main skills I developed abroad were my Spanish language skills. I have been using these since returning home, speaking with native Spanish-speakers whenever possible, answering friends' questions and doubts about the language as some of them have begun to learn it, looking for opportunities to use my Spanish in internships and volunteering. But, I also developed other important skills, like balancing recreation and work more equally, in a way that causes me less stress and allows me to enjoy life more. I spend less time obsessing over my work and stressing .

[utahabroad]

Exploring Thailand through Community Engagement

By: Nicole King

Program: Thailand International Elective: Health Sciences

Term: Summer 2018

“Thailand exposed me to underserved communities who don't have reasonable access to health resources. My goal is to continue reaching out to these populations as a physician assistant in the near future. I want to embody my program's mission by continuously lending a hand to those who need healthcare, even if I am just one person. “

Earning the Community Engagement Badge: During our third week in Thailand, we visited Mae Sot, a rural area near the Thailand-Myanmar border that was home to several Burmese refugees. We had the opportunity to rotate through their free clinic and work closely with the medics, who are equivalents of PAs in that region. It was interesting to find that they had such limited resources out there--for example, it is easy to order lab work, imaging, and other tests in the U.S. for a simple outpatient visit. However, this clinic was limited to a blood draw that required microscopy to count cells (without the use of a machine, like in the U.S.) and took over an hour to receive results, an old ultrasound, and basic antibiotics and pain meds. We had to learn to work with what we had available. I also got to see how different the living conditions were of these Burmese families compared to those in Bangkok. I felt like I was in another country (Myanmar specifically), despite still actually being in Thailand. Many people walked around barefoot with slightly disheveled clothing. Women and young girls wore "thanaka," a yellow-white facial paste made from ground bark used for cosmetic and sun protection purposes. The surrounding area was filled with homes that had rooftops made of straw and wood, but many families had walked or biked from even further away to reach this clinic. This experience being in rural Thailand was definitely a good way to witness the differences in their community compared to what I am used to in the U.S., and it taught me to be more aware of such unique lifestyles elsewhere in the world.

Transferable Skills:

Although I have always seen myself as culturally sensitive, I've become even more tuned in with the struggles of underserved populations in Utah. After realizing our limited resources in Mae Sot, I've wanted to take advantage of what we do have in the U.S. to benefit our patients. For example, I volunteered at CARE Fair earlier this week, an event that provides free health screenings for uninsured patients who do not have a primary care provider. Many of them had been dealing with chronic medical conditions that obviously have been poorly monitored. Thus, I referred the majority of my patients to get established with free primary care. I've been grateful of the resources we do have here to help them.

[utahabroad]

Exploring Ghana through Career Development and Research Experience

By: Amy Ballard

Program: Global Public Health in Ghana

Term: Summer 2018

“My learning abroad experience relit my fire to continue studying to prepare for my dream job. I'd been having a hard time deciding if a career in international health was something that I really want to do with my life. After returning from my program, I can't imagine preparing to do anything else.”

Earning the Career Development Badge:

Since I can remember, I have always wanted to become a doctor and travel internationally to provide medical care to those in underdeveloped countries, particularly in Africa. Going on this learning abroad experience with the University of Utah and getting to meet the doctors who run this program and getting to know them personally was more than I ever could've hoped for. Having the opportunity to go abroad and participate in medical research projects in Ghana was a dream come true by itself. Having that opportunity while also getting to know Doctors Benson and Dickerson personally, people who do every day what I've been dreaming about since I was a kid, was absolutely surreal. I decided to go on this learning abroad as a trial run to see if working as a doctor internationally is something that I really want to do with my life. I now know that my answer is a resounding "YES." I cannot imagine doing anything else.

Earning the Research Experience Badge:

As a pre-med student, you know that you need to rack up some research experience in order to get into med school. For most, that means sitting in a lab, isolating a specific molecule or something of the like. For me, that meant travelling across the world to Ghana, West Africa. While in Ghana, I had the opportunity to spend hours in the KNUST Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, Ghana performing interviews and talking to doctors, to watch a 3 month old have surgery to repair a cleft lip, to go out into the rural Ghanaian communities and collect samples to test for antibiotic resistance. These experiences, along with so many more, are things that I never would've had if I had chosen not to participate in this learning abroad program. I would go again in a heartbeat.

Transferable Skills:

My main research project in Ghana was a cleft palate study. For this study, I had the opportunity to work with a group of Ghanaian medical students to interview caregivers of children with cleft lip and/or palate. Performing an interview in English is hard enough on its own as an undergraduate student; performing an interview that has to be translated to and from any of 3 different languages, that is much harder. However, my team and I quickly were able to work out a system that helped us to ease the process, both for ourselves and the caregivers. Our research project focused on qualitative research, whereas most focus on quantitative. The ability and knowledge to both will be a great asset to me as I participate in more research projects moving forward.

[utahabroad]

Exploring France through Career Development

By: Anthony Scoma

Program: CEA Internship in Paris, France

Term: Summer 2018

“The skills and experiences I'd accumulated over the last three years at the U were finally put to test in a real-world setting and clarified where I had succeeded and where I needed to focus moving forward.”

Earning the Career Development Badge:

Working full-time as an intern, I felt that I was able to learn what life in Paris was like better than I would have been able to if I was just attending class. I also got a feeling for what it's like to work in a foreign country, which makes the possibility that I will work abroad later in life much more likely.   

As a reporter for the Global Editors Network, I spent most of my time researching, interviewing, writing, and editing for our online publication. I covered journalistic tools that our Editors Lab program had helped create, as well as important presentations from the GEN Summit. I also contributed to the editing of our weekly newsletter, recording Editors Lab participant feedback, and conducting audience research between our various publications.

Initially, I doubted my ability to contribute meaningfully to the Global    Editors Network, fearing that I lacked the necessary expertise and skill to write worthwhile articles. I also questioned my editorial intuitions, which prevented me from presenting my ideas to my supervisors. This mentality began to change when I finished my first article, and it received very positive feedback. It felt like I had established, at least in my own mind, my place in the office. From then on, Paris and my internship were no longer obstacles I had to     overcome but instead opportunities that I got to enjoy.

Before this internship in Paris, I never considered that I would work or study outside the U.S. in my field. This internship abroad has changed that, and potential professional possibilities that before seemed unrealistic now feel achievable. At the very least, I now know that there will be a lot more traveling in my future than I had ever imagined before my internship.

Transferable Skills:

While the specific skills that I learned navigating  Paris and working at my internship have not been very applicable to my day-to-day life, the perspective that I gained while meeting new people and learning about their experiences has succeeded in reshaping my approach to interpersonal exchanges. I find    myself, whether at work, school, or home, thinking about how my coworkers and friends in Paris may differ in my perspective on a topic that comes up. While I cannot be conclusive, this simple mental exercise has led me to be more thoughtful of how others have completely different lived experiences than me and not agreeing on something doesn't have to be a bad thing.

[utahabroad]

Exploring France through Language Immersion

By: Michelle James

Program: Intensive French Language and Culture

Term: Summer 2017

“My program in Grenoble gave me the opportunity to be immersed in a culture and language that I have been studying for years and to practice and expand on all areas of my French language skills. It allowed me to use everything I have studied to experience a completely new and exciting culture.”

Earning the Language Immersion Badge:

During my five week program in Grenoble I took a French grammar class, civilization class, and speaking class, all of which helped me to improve and develop my French language skills. All aspects of my classes were in French, from our daily assignments to our conversations with our friends and our professor. Although at times it was of course challenging to not be able to speak a word of English, it was a great way for me to improve my speaking skills in an environment where I was surrounded by the language I was studying. I was able to apply everything I was learning in class to my daily life in Grenoble, whether it was ordering food in the city or talking about my day with my host family. By being able to learn French in a classroom setting and then practice it with everyone around me I became more comfortable speaking the language and it became more natural to me. Living with a host family was also a big part of earning the language immersion badge for me because it was an opportunity to continue learning about the French language and culture outside of my classes. I got to practice my conversational skills and also learn more about French culture.

Transferable Skills:

I am using the skills that I learned during my program to continue working on courses for my French minor and to build on my language skills. I am also using the skills I developed during my time abroad in my international studies classes and my communication classes as I learn about different countries and cultures around the world. Having the experience of living in a different culture than my own will help me to work with people from different backgrounds which is useful in both my majors and will be important in my future career. It is also a useful skill at my current work at the International Admissions Office at the U.

[utahabroad]

Exploring Germany through Career Development and Research Experience

By: Rachel Payne

Program: Chemistry Research in Germany

Term: Summer 2018

“The process of elimination is more about being willing to try something new than being able to reject something outside the scope of your view. I tried something new and I didn't enjoy it. More than being a waste of time, it refined my view of the future.”

Earning the Career Development Badge:

Work in Germany wasn't easy, particularly in my lab. Expectations were extremely high and staying overtime was normal. Over time, I found myself dragging my feet into work, dreading the monotonous flow of reactions that would absorb my time. Eventually my research postdoc caught my lack of enthusiasm and asked what he could do to help. After a lengthy conversation over lunch, the situation improved. As it turns out, organic synthesis just isn't my area of interest. I love the process of research, the questions, the analysis, even the experimental writeups: I just don't enjoy the subject itself. Upon returning to the United States I enrolled in entirely new coursework in nuclear engineering. Turns out I love it. Now I am very involved with nuclear research, working my way towards radiochemistry graduate school. Without the experience in my German lab, I likely would not have traveled the same career path.

Earning the Research Experience Badge:

Resiliency is the key to success in science and research. There were many times in my lab when I would put days' worth of work into a synthesis scheme, only to have molecules turn out impure or unusable. For example, I spent an entire week on purification of a single fluorescent target, only to have the analysis data tell me it wasn't even there to begin with! The entire time I had been isolating one of the impurities. My only option was to go back to the drawing board, reconsider my synthesis plan, and then try a different method. As my postdoc pointed out, there wasn't any use to dwelling on my failure; I should learn from my mistake and move on. In order to succeed, I must be able to fail and move on from that failure. Some problems can't be solved with one swift answer, especially in research.

Transferable Skills:

I learned to collaborate with others in the lab, discovering that the wisdom and experience of my coworkers could push my project to the next level. I now use a greater degree of collaboration in my job as a pharmacy technician as well as in my research efforts here at the University of Utah. I have a better tendency to ask others when I experience a complex problem rather than struggling to solve it myself. In addition, at the end of my experience I wrote up experimentals for the reactions I performed. This write-up increased my technical writing abilities, a skill I use daily in my research work and studies.

[utahabroad]

Exploring Cuba through Community Engagement and Career Development

By: Jayden Howard

Program: Cuba: Complexity, Community, and Change

Term: Fall Break 2018

“My experience in Cuba impacted my experience as a student at the U by encouraging me to seeking more opportunities to do things and go places I have never seen before and also be cautious of the type of community member and citizen I am and want to be in the future.”

Earning the Community Engagement Badge:

This experience has genuinely changed the way I view travel and community. I will never be able to travel without trying to find the roots of a community's culture, like you would find at a place like Muraleando. Muraleando really showed me what it means for a community to come together and solve a problem. In this small corner of the outskirts of Havana, this community turned a mound of trash into an arts center to help foster new artists by teaching them new craft. I have been shown that being an active part of a community isn't just about living or working within it, but is more about knowing and caring for neighbors and coming together when needed. I was able to experience a community that blossomed and welcomed us with open arms.

Earning the Career Development Badge:

This experience taught me a lot about the type of professional I want to be in my future career. One of the biggest dreams for a future job for me is that it includes working internationally. This study aboard opportunity gave me confidence that when I travel for work in the future that I can do so as a professional and show up ready to go and take as much from the experience as possible. It also showed me the importance of being positive and adaptable in every moment. Being aboard could be potentially stressful and may not always go as planned. That's how I learned that the ability to keep a level head and a smile on my face when things go array was not only good for me, but also helped my team.

Transferable Skills:

One cool way that I was able to implement what I learned while I was abroad was by taking an activity we did while learning about Cuba's popular education system and apply it to the experiential learning atmosphere of an Alternative Break experience I was able to lead to Kanab, from within the Bennion Center. Doing this activity really helped us establish a feeling of comradery and accountability as we took on our volunteer work outside of our regular communities. I also love that by doing activities learned in Cuba, I also get to include others in my experience and hopefully impact the way the people view this beautiful country.

[utahabroad]

Exploring Germany through Community Engagement and Language Immersion

By: Mahalia Lotz

Program: Intensive German Language & Culture

Term: Summer 2018

“Participating in the learning abroad program provided me the opportunity to connect with my German speaking family more fully. I am now able to better understand the culture we share and speak to them in their native language.” 

Earning the Community Engagement Badge:

While earning the community engagement badge I was able to connect to a much wider German community than my immediate family. I visited a home for older adults twice a week and grew close with many of the residents. Through conversation that grew gradually more fluent each week they shared memories of simple life experiences and profound reflections. Though they spoke slowly, I still had to listen carefully, as they often spoke in very quiet or slurred voices, or in a heavy dialect. I walked with them, played games with them, and drank coffee with them, so we provided the gift of company to each other. But they did the greater service to me, welcoming me into their home and patiently practicing their language with me. They were the most gracious instructors.

Earning the Language Immersion Badge:

The main reason I chose to participate in the Kiel, Germany program was to improve my language skills. I wanted to be able to connect to my German family and German heritage through language. I spent significant portions of my childhood with the German language in my ear, so I knew I had an aptitude for it, but I had very little formal training. The instructor and classroom in Kiel provided the perfect supplement to my preexisting German language skills. The curriculum was flexible, and focused on conversational fluency with an emphasis in grammar. It was rigorous, but engaging. I found plenty of opportunities during and after class to practice new skills, and I noticed a hug improvement in my German fluency after five weeks studying in Kiel.

Transferable Skills:

I now primarily use my German language skills to communicate with my German-speaking family. Greater fluency has enabled me to create a closer relationship with my Oma, who taught herself English and feels very self-conscious when speaking English is the only option. Now we speak in German together, and she feels better able to express herself and share family stories which are tremendously important to her. I continue to practice German daily now that my University course load has decreased in order to keep my mind sharp. Sometimes I practice German by reading or listening to German news, discovering German music, or browsing German social media posts from friends.

[utahabroad]

Exploring Japan through Language Immersion

By: Jasmine Johnson

Program: Intensive Japanese Language in Osaka, Japan

Term: Summer 2018

“Even the smallest of things can be a learning experience. Appreciate every opportunity you have to meet new people and experience new things. You never know what you might learn and discover.”

Earning the Language Immersion Badge:

During my time in Japan, I greatly improved my language skills by being immersed in the culture and language. I communicated with other students in both English and Japanese. Many of the Japanese students at the college were learning English while I was learning Japanese. This allowed us to help each other study and improve our skills in the other's native language. It was very interesting and made learning fun because we were able to connect with each other as we studied. While on the program, I was learning every second of every day but I didn't really feel like I was working because I was enjoying myself. Even just simple things like going shopping or going out to eat were a learning experience and an opportunity to improve my language skills. I had never experienced something like that before because this was my first time visiting somewhere outside of America. I felt like I spoke more English than I should have, but when I returned and continued to communicate with friends I had made, I realized I had very much improved my understanding of Japanese without even realizing. While the Japanese class helped a lot, I think that the real-world experiences were far more valuable and useful. It was an experience I'll never forget.

Transferable Skills:

I have kept up with friends I made in Japan, which allows me to continue practicing my Japanese skills. I didn't make as much progress in my language abilities as I thought I might, so I'm glad that I can continue to learn and improve. I think I also improved my communication abilities in general, which has helped me better connect with other students in my same major and in my classes this semester. I have been able to connect and share my experiences with other students who went abroad, even if they went to a different place than I did, which has been a very interesting and valuable experience.

[utahabroad]

Exploring Spain through Language Immersion

By: Alessandra Cipriani-Detres

Program: Intensive Spanish Language & Culture in Oviedo, Spain

Term: Summer 2018

"Oviedo will be an important part of my life forever. Everyone I got to know including my host family and new friends played a huge role in making this such a positive experience. Viva España."

Earning the Language Immersion Badge:

I learned Spanish all throughout high school and what I learned was never enough for me to become even remotely fluent. Living with a host family during my time abroad allowed me to get out of my comfort zone and make mistakes which improved my Spanish speaking skills more during this five-week program than these past five years. It was also very helpful that I wasn't studying in a big city like Madrid or Barcelona since it would have been very easy to fall into the trap of not speaking in Spanish since most people in large cities know English. One of my favorite parts from the program was doing a scavenger hunt around Oviedo with our group. It was a nice end to my time in Spain because I got to walk around a city I had gotten to know extremely well in such a short amount of time. We also had to speak in Spanish during this event to do a cheese tasting, ask locals to take pictures of ourselves, and ask around for directions. I am extremely grateful for this program. In the future, I would love to live in a Spanish speaking country for an extended period of time to learn about another culture and to prefect my Spanish.

Transferable Skills:

I gained a lot of confidence while I was abroad. I used to be embarrassed to speak Spanish because I was so bad at it given that I had been studying it for five years. Today, I am still not that great at speaking Spanish but I learned that it's ok! I will only achieve my goal of fluency if I practice and learn from my mistakes. I feel more comfortable practicing Spanish with my family and friends than I did before the program. It made me realize how lucky I am to have native Spanish speakers all around me and to take advantage of how they can help me improve my skills.