This is the Spartan Transfer Hub brought to you by Impact eighty nine FM and MSU Transfer Student Success Here's what we've got for you today. Hi everyone, welcome to today's episode of Spartan Transfer Hub, the podcast about all things related to MSU Transfer Students brought to you by the MSU Transfer Student Success Centre, also known as TSSC. I'm your host, Zuhayronno. I use hehim pronouns. I'm a senior studying mechanical engineering at MSU.
Zuhaer:And as usual with me in the studio today, we have our TSSC program coordinator and grad assistant. We're also joined today by the student success coordinator for the Office for Education Abroad. Would you all be able to introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about what you do at MSU?
Hope:So, name is Hope Kroll. I use she, her, hers pronouns. I'm the student success coordinator in the office for education abroad. And I'm kind of a Jane of all trades and a master of none. I wear many hats in our office.
Hope:But the main thing that I do is use data driven interventions to improve global learning opportunities for students here at Michigan State.
Zuhaer:And I know that you're a transfer student as well. Do you want to tell us where from?
Hope:Yeah, absolutely. So I transferred to Michigan State in 2014 from Lansing Community College. And I ended up being on campus for about a year and a half while I finished my bachelor's degree in political science.
Lauren:Hi everyone, my name is Lauren Sargent, I use sheher pronouns. I am going into my last year as a master's student in the Student Affairs Administration program, and I am the graduate assistant for the Transfer Student Success Center.
Ashley:Hi, everybody. My name is Ashley Hewlett Lemke. I use the she series of pronouns, and I'm the program coordinator with TSSC. I also was a transfer student. I'll do you one better, 2005 is when I transferred to MSU.
Ashley:Yeah. A little bit older than you hope. I also, you know, on the topic today, I also studied abroad while I was a transfer student here at MSU for an entire semester. And, yeah, so we'll talk about that
Lauren:a little bit as well.
Hope:Love hearing that.
Lauren:Alright. Ashley, do you wanna know something really you're not gonna like it? I'm not gonna like it? No. I was three Me and Zuhaira were both three when we transferred to MSU.
Ashley:I'm an oldie but goodie. So, you know, I own it. I turned 40 last year. So I'm proud of that milestone. Yeah.
Zuhaer:Thank you all for this introduction. Yeah. This is our this is episode three of our mini series about high impact practices or HIPS. For our listeners who may be new or need a refresher, a high impact practice is a way of teaching and learning that has significant educational benefits for students. Today, we are going to be talking about education abroad, a high impact practice.
Zuhaer:But first, I really want to ask you if today, right now, you were given the chance to go anywhere for a fully funded vacation, where would you go? Like, right now, what do you think of?
Hope:Okay. I would go to Mongolia. And I'll tell you why. So there's a festival where women who are or young women who are emerging into adulthood release golden eagles. And it is a dream to see them release the Eagles.
Hope:I think that'd be amazing. Wow.
Zuhaer:That sounds really cool.
Hope:Yeah. And then I would, of course, have to go down into China. I have a friend who is actually now a diplomat, and she lives and works in Guangzhou. And I think it'd be really cool to go see her.
Ashley:Yeah. Nice.
Lauren:Mhmm. You have a really good answer. Like, yours is really well thought
Ashley:out. I
Lauren:would go to New Zealand just because I I think I just want to. Like, I think it'd be fun.
Hope:It'd be amazing. Also, we have a first year seminar abroad currently in New Zealand. And one of my friends and colleagues is a program assistant and she's having a blast.
Zuhaer:Nice. Okay. You might need to you might need to take notes.
Lauren:Yes. That's so cool. Imagine, like, you're like, oh my gosh. I just got accepted at MSU, and I'm going to New Zealand. Yeah.
Hope:Yep. And so they come in with, a global experience, and then they also have some friends, and they know a couple new people here on campus. And I feel like we see a lot of students who do the first seminars also study abroad again at some point in their undergrad.
Zuhaer:Mhmm.
Ashley:Cool opportunity. I have some colleagues over in Greece right now, I believe, with one of those programs.
Hope:Amazing. Amazing. Yep.
Ashley:This is a really hard question. I I I'm like, can we expand it to all fifty two weeks in the year? Because I'm like, I wanna go That's that's where I what I would wanna do. Madagascar comes to mind. I think, like, a week of backpacking across Madagascar would be amazing.
Ashley:I have no connection to Madagascar other than, like, I think it would be amazing to go there. You know, I've been to a few places in Europe and studied abroad in in Ecuador. And, yeah, kind of a bucket list of, like, I wanna have feet on every continent at some point.
Hope:Yeah. That's amazing.
Zuhaer:Nice. I mean, I too would like a fifty two week vacation. Even though I don't work and I'm just a student. I still don't
Ashley:know. I
Zuhaer:think I have the most basic out of all of these answers. I just really wanna go to Spain because I am a I'm a very Spanish football big big fan of Spanish football, big fan of Europe European football, or soccer, I should say, and I'm a Barcelona fan.
Lauren:Loyal listeners will know
Hope:this. So,
Zuhaer:you know, like, the dream of being like, a dream vacation for me would just be going to Barcelona during the pre season or even the start of the season and just attend every possible Barcelona game, get all the merch, and it's fully funded right? So maybe I can go into the merch sections and take everything. So yeah, I just love sports and I just really want to go to Spain because Spain is so cool and you gotta go to Madrid, gotta go to Sevilla, you gotta go to Bilbao, you gotta go to all the nice beaches, all the festivities, so yeah. And if you're in Spain, you might as well go to The Netherlands and France and everything because Europe, right?
Hope:Or you could take Gibraltar exchange down into Morocco, which is a dream trip for me as well.
Zuhaer:That's actually such a good point. I really wanna go to Morocco.
Lauren:I've heard so many good things.
Zuhaer:Yeah. Food there sounds so much
Hope:The food, the culture. Yeah. There's a lot of, like, really cool excursions folks can do. I feel like I'm being braggadocious today because I also have another friend who's moving to Morocco from Kuwait soon. And they were like, you should totally come see me when I'm settled in Morocco.
Zuhaer:You should.
Hope:And I'm like, I think I will.
Lauren:I think perks of your position is just having so many, like, little friends.
Hope:It's true. It's true. It's nice too because I just I think you meet so many people in this field that you otherwise would not meet. And, that's one of the joys of education generally.
Zuhaer:Nice. And do you, like, enjoy traveling a lot anyway nowadays, like, even if it's around here and there?
Hope:I do. Yeah. I, you know, I love traveling around Michigan when I have time. My parents live in Charlevoix, and so I love to go up there in summer. But I feel like I am most often in Michigan and California because that's where my family really is.
Hope:And a lot of the travel that I do outside of The States is it's going to those dream destinations or going for work, something affiliated with work. But the last trip I took internationally by myself, just like for fun, was to Denmark. And it was amazing. I was originally supposed to see Maggie Rogers in concert.
Zuhaer:Maggie Rogers.
Hope:Yeah. But I because I bought the tickets through, like, a Danish website, I totally ignored the email saying that she had to cancel that leg of her tour. And so I went into, like, the middle of nowhere, Denmark. There was, like, a warehouse, and there were a couple, like, Swedish guys standing by a tree and I was like, I feel like I'm missing something and they go, oh yeah, she had to cancel.
Ashley:Oh my god.
Hope:And I was like, oh god. And then I'm just standing there thinking to myself, what am I gonna do? And they go, well, came from Sweden and I was like, I came from The US and they and they thought that was the funniest
Ashley:thing. So
Hope:it was, yeah, an interesting night to say the least. But, you know.
Zuhaer:That's really sad, but that's kinda funny.
Lauren:Yes. What a story. Yeah. That's a great story.
Zuhaer:And because we already talked a little bit about excursions abroad, let's get right into it with our let's get right into it with education abroad. First off, we here at TSSC want to congratulate your office on being ranked number one for study abroad among public universities for the sixth year in a row as of this recording. The MSU Office of Education Abroad has almost three fifty programmes, I'm thinking, in over 62 countries across all seven continents, which is just truly remarkable. And congratulations to you and your office for that, of course. With that being said, for our listeners who might not be aware, what is an education abroad opportunity?
Hope:Yeah, so education abroad refers to an academic program that occurs in another country. And at MSU, all of our education abroad programs are credit bearing, which means that students earn credit towards their general education requirements or degree requirements while abroad. And so we offer a variety of program types and durations, which gives students greater flexibility to plan for education abroad during their time at MSU and can also help align with their interests and goals.
Zuhaer:Nice. In your experience, do you see a lot of times students will, when seeking out education abroad, would they seek out particular subjects or courses or is it more towards whatever the students, where wherever the student want to go? Like, your experience, what do you know about?
Hope:So it's interesting because a lot of times students will come to us and they have a very clear idea of where they want to go. And we often will try to take a couple steps back and say, okay, we understand that you're really interested in going to Italy, which is actually the number one destination, like nationally for outbound students. But we will often try to encourage students to think about what outstanding degree requirements they might need, what, they could potentially do on top of an education abroad experience that could really enhance their learning of whatever their major subject is in. So, if you have a student who's engineering, for example, an engineering major, we might try to encourage them to consider doing something that is based in STEM research abroad, because it gives them an opportunity to flex those, skills that they're starting to learn in the classroom in a more international context, for example. So, I guess it's kind of a yes and response, because we obviously want to make sure that students are able to go to the countries that they're most interested in.
Hope:But we also try to, you know, keep in mind other components of like, have they traveled abroad before? Would they be more comfortable traveling with faculty and other MSU students? Or are they looking for a more independent experience where they can be an exchange student at a host university and take classes with students who are rooted in that community. So, we really try to ask questions to encourage students to give us more information so that we can help them find the program that will be the best fit for them. But I will also say a lot of students hear about education abroad in their classrooms on campus.
Hope:Faculty love to promote the programs that they run. And, a cornerstone really of Michigan State's legacy in education abroad as a field is our faculty directed programming. We were one of the first universities that really kind of scaled that model and, promoted it, very aggressively throughout the curriculum at the university.
Zuhaer:Absolutely, that's awesome. And particularly the, I feel like the approach that you guys take with sending students abroad, I think it's very well rounded in the sense that, you know, like you're fulfilling multiple criteria. I think that's really cool and I think anybody who's listening should be very appealed to the idea of doing education abroad, especially because of how much care that your office puts into fulfilling those dreams of the students that we have. Yeah. And like I mentioned earlier, education abroad experiences are considered to be a high impact practice, right?
Zuhaer:Meaning that there are unique benefits to participating. What are some of these benefits that students might see when they do study abroad?
Hope:Definitely. So high impact practices encourage deep learning by promoting student engagement and are proven to increase or enhance students' academic success. So, there are a lot of benefits to studying abroad, but I think, I'd like to think of them really in three major buckets. So there's the personal, benefits, professional, and then also cultural benefits. I'm going to start with cultural, because really with the cultural component of study abroad, it helps to enhance students' development of intercultural competence.
Hope:And this can be fostered through programs that are, intentionally designed to give students an opportunity to engage with local host cultures and their, host community in a deeper way that really goes beyond tourism. So we, often will work with, providers, universities, and faculty to really make sure that when they're designing a program, it is very thoughtful and very intentional in making sure that students have ways to engage with the local community. Because it's also very meaningful for the local community to interact with our students. There's an exchange of information. There's, an exchange of, this is a little bit about me and where I come from, and this is a little bit about this person and where they come from.
Hope:And, it really helps to expand awareness and help students develop different perspectives cultural practices and traditions, politics, history. There's so many intersections with travel and with studying abroad and engagement in a local host culture that really go a lot deeper than just, I'm here to learn an academic program or structure. And then there's the personal side of it, which, I administer our student evaluations. And the number one reason that students cite for going abroad is actually personal growth. And so I think that really speaks to the fact that a lot of students know that getting outside of their comfort zone and, being exposed to diversity and cultural differences is something that can really enhance their development as people.
Hope:And I think that really well designed programs also encourage personal growth through engagement and meaningful reflection. Because I think a lot of the times, you can have these experiences and be really excited about what you're learning and what you're taking away. But if you're not reflecting on it, your takeaways might not be as robust otherwise. So I think it really speaks to our students at Michigan State that one of the main reasons they want to go abroad is to develop personally. And then there's the professional component.
Hope:So obviously, focusing is a big component of education abroad. We're really interested in doing a little bit more research in the future about the role that education abroad plays in either students advancing more quickly through their degrees or in potentially changing their major and going in a different direction. And we know that it happens anecdotally. We've talked to students who've said, I studied abroad and I was doing research, but then it made me realize that I actually want to study this, not this. So, might change their major.
Hope:So, we have some anecdotal evidence that this happens, but we know that ultimately it really helps to either affirm or redirect students to their right pathway. And then employment. I mean, we are working in an increasingly global workforce and economy, and having those cross cultural skills is really, really important to being able to collaborate effectively with colleagues and to, you know, be more open and receptive to like different ideas and things like that when you're in the workforce. So I would say those personal, professional, and cultural pieces are really the main benefits for students that we see often.
Zuhaer:Totally. And that's a great way to put it because it's more than just one thing, right? It's like a full experience. I think you did a really good job of explaining to students or listeners that it's more than just the academics, it's more than just the self fulfillment of travelling and stuff. So yeah, that was a really nice way of putting it for
Hope:sure. Thanks.
Zuhaer:And if I may ask you to mention some of the specific different types of abroad programs that you offer. Could you give us like a few?
Hope:Yeah, absolutely. So, we offer programs that span from one week all the way up to a full academic year. So I think there's a lot of opportunity for students to really lead the way in terms of what they want, from a global learning experience and how long they want to be engaged in that kind of experience. Because we also know that with transfer students, one part of it is, well, just got to MSU, I want to spend time here. But there are different ways to stay engaged even when you're studying abroad for a shorter or a longer period of time.
Hope:We also offer so we offer a really wide variety of programs. So we have faculty directed programs, which is where, students, take courses that are taught by MSU faculty and are earning MSU credit on those programs. And they're usually in a group of other MSU students as well. This is a really great program type for students who maybe haven't traveled, abroad before, are new to the campus community and really want to make more connections with friends and faculty. We also offer direct enrollment programs.
Hope:This is essentially a program type where a student will, be put into placeholder credit at MSU, but then they directly enroll at an institution abroad for, you know, anywhere from a couple of weeks all the way up to a full academic year. And then they bring transfer credit back. So there's some important things that I want to talk about, particularly for transfer students with that type of programming in a second. We also offer exchange programs, which is a type of programming that's actually facilitated through agreements at universities. So, we might send a certain number of students, and then we need to receive a certain number of students back.
Hope:And this just ensures that there's a transfer of knowledge and of student mobility between our institutions. So particular types of programs are really great because students can still be paying MSU tuition, but they're at a host university abroad. And then there's different experiences within all of these, types of education abroad programs. So we offer global internships, global research opportunities, especially STEM focused opportunities, community engaged learning, service learning, and experiential learning. We have medical rotations.
Hope:We also have language based learning and full cultural immersion programs as well.
Zuhaer:Wow. That's a whole that's a lot of stuff.
Lauren:And wish I could, like, whistle. Like, you know when people, like, whistle? They're like, what? You're like me right now, but I can't whistle. Just like, what?
Hope:On top of the programs that we have outbound, so when we say outbound, we're referring to students from MSU going abroad. But we also have inbound programming that brings international students to campus. And so one, type of or one example of, this program or that type of programming is the American semester program, which is a semester long program where international students are essentially studying abroad here in East Lansing. And they come from all over the world and, often are just really excited to be on a big centralized campus. Our ASP and E team, so the folks who work to coordinate those programs, they help to facilitate the students enrollment in classes on campus, their housing situation, all of that stuff.
Hope:But then on top of that, they're really supporting their engagement with our local community by, facilitating field trips and cultural activities and things like that. And it's funny because sometimes you'll be talking to a student, maybe they're from Michigan, maybe they've only left the state one or two times to go to Chicago or Wisconsin or wherever. And, they're like, what do you mean facilitate cultural activity in Michigan? Like, we don't have any culture. But then it's like, surprise, surprise.
Hope:Yes, we do. We have cider mills. We have cider mills. Horox. We have Horox.
Hope:Oh my gosh. Actually, great cultural destination. Good for people watching for sure.
Zuhaer:We have really large scale tailgating.
Lauren:Yes. I feel like Yeah. MSU's campus is like like when I think of like a typical American college campus. Yeah. MSU is a really good fit of just like people laying out everywhere and like playing frisbee.
Lauren:Yes. Yeah. Or something like that.
Hope:That's so true.
Zuhaer:If I may just add, it's so rich as a college experience because it's like the like what you see in the movies a lot of times, you know, like I will actually sometimes go out of a building or like a class building or a dorm building, and I'll see that out on the lawn, are playing frisbee, some people are sunbathing, everyone's playing sports, and people are doing picnics, and it's just such I think that is the richness of the culture at MSU. Feel like that university or like the college culture is something truly it's it's truly spectacular. And I think that's something that students should be attracted to for sure.
Hope:And it's nice too when we can bring students into the East Lansing community and the MSU community, from other countries too, because then it's giving our students in our community opportunities to interact with folks that maybe they wouldn't otherwise have an opportunity to connect with. Actually, few years ago, I joined some of my colleagues who manage the American semester program on one of the cultural excursions that they did with the incoming fall cohort. And so I think we had I mean, there were a ton of us. Think in all, there was almost like 80 people. And we took a couple of buses up to Ludington and hung out in their community for a couple of hours on the beach.
Hope:And there were folks from the Ludington community that were coming over to us being like, what are you guys doing here? Like, where are you from? And, you know, and of course, all of our students were like, oh, I'm from Australia. You know, I'm from China. I'm from Sweden.
Hope:And and people were like, wow, that's amazing. Like, are you guys doing here? And so we had an opportunity to talk to them about, you know, the program that we're facilitating for the students. And it was great to see that community, you know, respond to our students with curiosity and warmth and kindness and being very welcoming and encouraging of their experience in Michigan. So it was really special.
Hope:That was probably my favorite part of the whole day. It wasn't then going over to Silver Lake and doing the dune buggy ride, even though that was a lot of fun. Yeah. My favorite part was really watching the students interact with the members of the community because you could just tell that they were really excited to share things about themselves. And similarly, the community was really interested in our students as well.
Lauren:As, like, a domestic student, I think like one of the most like attractive parts of MSU and just one of like my favorite things that I maybe I just wasn't expecting when I joined, like came to MSU was just like, I there's so many people where I just like randomly meet and they're like, yeah, I'm from like another country and I'm Yeah. Like I've lived in America my whole life. I've I think I've been to Canada maybe once.
Hope:Mhmm.
Lauren:So I've like I haven't traveled. I'm not very well traveled but I feel like being here, I've met so many people from different countries and I'm like I I feel like that's not necessarily something that I got at my undergrad of like Yeah. There's like there's just such a high chance of like any any person you go up to on campus is probably like has either traveled abroad or is from a different country. I And think that just it makes MSU so much like you said, just the culture here is so much richer and the exchange of information is just more global. That's awesome.
Zuhaer:Oh, yeah. I've I know that for a lot of students who are transferring to MSU, there can be some hesitancy about doing an abroad program and even just a lot of uncertainty about if an abroad program would be beneficial or feasible. What are some common ways that you have seen transfer students get involved with education abroad?
Hope:But one of the main ways that we're really trying to encourage transfer student mobility abroad is by making sure that education abroad is visible to a larger group of students. So we're doing more events, where we're talking about education abroad, specifically to transfer students, you know, tabling at resource fairs, attending the Student Success Summit, talking about the work that we do, and finding opportunities to connect with our colleagues, so that they're also aware of the opportunities that are available for transfer students. I think transfer students are a really unique population on campus in part because, you know, we do bring credits with us from other institutions. And so, because education abroad's programming is all credit bearing, sometimes we have to be creative about the types of programming that we can really encourage and facilitate for transfer students. Because at Michigan State, you're limited to bringing in 60 credits.
Hope:And I was a student who brought the full 60 in from LCC, And I, would not have been able to participate in a direct enrollment program, for example, because of the fact that you are transferring credits from another institution back to your MSU transcript. However, students who have fewer than 60 credits are available to or are able to participate in those types of programs. But there are some nuances to engaging transfer students that we need to be, consistent in our messaging about, just so that they don't come to us and say, but I thought I could study abroad for a full semester at this other institution. And then we have to have the conversation of, okay, so if you do that, that means that these credits might not transfer back to MSU, or you might need to drop some of the credits that you earned at another institution in order to pull these credits into your experience. And because all our programming is credit bearing, we really want to be mindful that students are getting the most from the experience.
Hope:And so, if that means that we have to pivot and encourage students to go to a different program type where they can directly earn MSU credit, then we will, because we want to make sure that we can still help with those markers towards their education requirements. So that's one piece of it. I would say, another piece is really just making sure that we are consistently aware of who our transfer students are. There are different ways that we're trying to track transfer student engagement. But one of the ways that students can actually help us know if they're a transfer student is when they're submitting an application to a program, checking a little box that says, yes, I identify with the following identity types.
Hope:And we have questions about, are you a first gen student? Are you a transfer student? You know, are you an international student? We have all of these questions to sort of help gauge how we can, facilitate, the best programming opportunities for students when they're applying. So that's one way that we kind of keep an eye out for transfer students and then consistently try to engage with them.
Zuhaer:Are there people who can help transfer students decide if study abroad is for them based on their unique needs and experiences?
Hope:Yeah, absolutely. So first and foremost, I think that every MSU student needs to develop a good relationship with their academic advisor, because this is the person who has the expertise and really holds all of the knowledge around their degree requirements and can really help to facilitate their understanding of what credits could transfer back or what courses they might still need to take that education abroad can offer in the form of an education abroad program. So, you know, we sometimes have transfer credit, we sometimes have MSU credit on our programs. It really just depends on the program, and every program is very different. So sometimes that can be a little overwhelming or confusing, but I think ultimately, if students have a good relationship with their academic advisor, or at least are able to connect with them a couple of times a semester and let them know it's something that they're interested in, their academic advisor can keep an ear to the ground or kind of keep a pulse on what program opportunities are available in the upcoming semesters that could help them achieve certain credits towards their major or minor degree requirements.
Hope:We also have a peer advisor program in education abroad. So, we offer advising during the academic school year, not so much during summer, but during fall and spring, we have walk in hours between 11AM and 4PM, Monday through Friday. We also have some virtual advising. This gives students an opportunity to talk to other students who have also studied abroad. And I believe we have a peer advisor who is a transfer student as well.
Hope:So I think that helps because if a transfer student says, you know, I'm really interested in this, but I'm like, maybe I'm like a little shy of talking with a student who doesn't get it, they could potentially talk with a student who does get it because they have that lived experience. I'm also happy to always be a resource to transfer students, because I'm very about making sure that students are aware of global learning opportunities. And to that point, our staff is very knowledgeable, especially our program coordinators. So in education abroad, we have a dedicated team that works with the, I think at 18 MSU colleges now. So we have dedicated coordinators who work with each of these colleges.
Hope:So they're very familiar with the programs that are offered, and can provide tons of detail from, you know, when to apply, what kind of financial aid is available, the various experiences that students can have on different programs, the housing that's available to them, and then also what credits are offered or, you know, if we haven't published that information yet, because sometimes it takes time for us to plan these programs accordingly, we can kind of give them a little bit of insight or insight into, you know, what they can anticipate when the application becomes available and things like that.
Zuhaer:That's really cool. And I know that what you just mentioned about financial aid, I was thinking that another factor that may deter students from exploring education abroad experiences is the cost of these programs, And like you said, there can be sorry, like you said, there are a lot of scholarships and financial aid available for students. So what are some of these ways that the students can actually finance these education abroad programs?
Hope:Definitely. So, about 30% of students who apply for an Office of Education Abroad scholarship receive a scholarship. And it's anywhere from $250 all the way up to $2,000 depending on the duration of the program usually. So our office obviously has like a pool of scholarships that we offer, and that includes a dedicated transfer student scholarship that goes up to $750 depending on, once again, the program duration. But it's really easy for students to apply because when a student is interested in education abroad, let's say they've identified a program they know that they want to apply, as long as that student has a FAFSA on file and they have a two point zero GPA, they can check a box in our application that says, Yes, I want to be considered for scholarships.
Hope:And that's all they have to do in order to be considered. Our office will then run through all of the endowments and funding pieces that we have and say, Okay, this student meets this criteria. They meet this criteria. So ultimately, what that results in is you might receive a very large amount of assistance from our office that's coming from various scholarships that we, have the ability to offer from, our office directly. But also, the colleges, that support these programs and whose faculty teach these programs also often have dedicated scholarships.
Hope:ISP, which is International Studies and Programs, it's essentially the unit that education abroad is housed in, has, scholarships that they offer as well. And then there's the MSU scholarship database, which I think every student needs to be familiar with because, when I was a student, I was very high financial need. I was paying for my education completely on my own. And I would weekly go in and look at all of the scholarships available and just apply because ultimately, the folks who donate money to the university for students to use want that money to get used. And so I think, you know, there's so many different ways that we can direct students to those resources.
Hope:And I think the first step is really just cultivating awareness. So when you apply, check the box yes, because that at least makes sure that you're going to be considered for our scholarships. But then there are so many other funding opportunities elsewhere too. And so I think talking to an academic advisor, you know, asking a faculty member in your college that you had, you know, maybe a really great course with that semester, if they're aware of any education abroad programs that are running in the upcoming summer or something, for example, and what scholarships are available. You know, folks want to help on campus.
Hope:They want to find ways to increase opportunity for students. So I think, you know, just cultivating that awareness and making sure that you're not leaving any stone unturned is a really big piece of funding. But, of course, programs are very expensive. And this is one area where we do see students withdrawing is because we know that it's expensive to fund these programs. So I think, getting creative, talking to your academic advisor, figuring out if there might be a time during the academic school year to study abroad even just to dip your toe in the water to decide, do I wanna make a larger investment later on?
Hope:Is a really fair approach to participating.
Zuhaer:That's really cool because I happen to have a scholarship for education abroad as well, but I'm regretful that I never got the chance to use it. And now that I'm heading into my senior year, I definitely will be exploring the options of using it. And like you said, whoever's donating the money to MSU Mhmm. Wants that the money gets used by the students. So for any incoming transfer students, I implore you in my from my own experience that definitely if you have the opportunity, do take it.
Zuhaer:MSU does try your try their best to make sure that you get to fulfill this experience that will be very fulfilling and valuable for you.
Hope:You know, maybe it's study abroad. Maybe you do a virtual exchange. Maybe you participate in a class on campus that is connecting you to an international classroom that is studying the same content. There are so many ways to engage in global learning on campus. So I would say, you know, stay curious and stay open minded to the different opportunities that are out there.
Hope:We also do, support some domestic study away programming. And so that is another great way to, essentially participate in global learning because, you know, like we said earlier, a lot of students don't realize there's kind of a culture in Mid Michigan. There's a culture in East Lansing. There's an MSU culture. Culture is everywhere.
Hope:It's abundant. And you can get exposed to different cultures even in The United States. So I think there's a lot of opportunity to use that funding in a way that is going to enhance your experience with global learning.
Zuhaer:And finally, for students who are interested in learning more about education abroad, how can they get involved, or how can they contact someone for more information?
Hope:Yes. Okay. So, we are on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. So we are spartansabroad, and then on TikTok, we're spartansabroadmsu. We also have intentionally designed our website to sort of be a self guided tool for students when you're interested.
Hope:You go to educationabroad.isp.msu.edu. You can also email us abroadmsu dot edu any questions that you have. But our website has been designed to essentially help students explore, plan, apply, and then anticipate their reentry. So, have tabs on our website for all of those things. It walks students through all of the components that they might need to consider when they're just curious about programming.
Hope:It also will provide them with a link to our program database, called Via Global. Students literally just, create an account with their MSU NetID and, go through single sign on. And then it connects all of their student information into our system so that we know what your major is, we know what your college is, and we can kind of help you navigate, the various steps of exploring, planning, and then applying to programmes, from there.
Zuhaer:Perfect. And lastly, I want to say that that's all the questions I have for you today, but I did want to go ahead and ask if you had any last thoughts or shout outs you wanted to mention?
Hope:Definitely. So the Office for Education Abroad is now part of a newly formed centre in international studies and programs called the Center for Global Learning and Innovation. We're going to have an official launch in October. The date is forthcoming. We're not sure if it's going to be like an open house or something like that, but we would definitely encourage students to kind of keep an eye out for, that information on our website and, to, you know, reach out if there's any questions.
Hope:But the center has essentially combined a couple of different offices, including the Office for Education Abroad, the American Semester Program and Exchanges, the Global Youth Advancement Network, the Japan Center for Michigan Universities, and then we also now have a research and scholarship side that we are calling TLS or Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship. So really, the, center is going to be a hub to facilitate global learning across campus through multiple student experiences and avenues for scholarship. So we're really excited to be expanding a little bit, both in our scope and in what we can research and offer to the campus community. And we just want to make sure that students are aware that there are many, many ways to engage in global learning. Obviously, I'm here calling out and trying to encourage and support education abroad, but there are so many other modalities as well, including domestic study away, virtual exchanges, COIL or collaborative international online learning.
Hope:Definitely kind of keep an eye out for that.
Zuhaer:Perfect. Thank you so much for all of the incredible information that you provided us with today and for going into so much specific details about how students can access all of these services that MSU has. And also before we end our episode today, I did want to ask if you had some final advice for transfer students about education abroad. Any last thoughts you want to share?
Hope:Absolutely. Well, I think that experience is the best teacher. And so I would say it's really important for transfer students to connect with other folks who have similar experience, transferring to Michigan State or transferring into, a four year setting, and asking lots of questions about what they did to position themselves for an education abroad experience, which makes me want to ask Ashley about her experience studying abroad as a transfer student in Ecuador.
Ashley:Yeah. My experience was amazing, and I actually went through one of the exchange programs. So I was an exchange student at La Universidad San Francisco de Quito, and I had the opportunity to be one of about 10 MSU students who went for that spring semester. And we were 10 of probably about 200 American students from various corners of The United States. So I met a lot of American students from Boston College and Virginia Tech and all over The United States.
Ashley:So that was kind of cool to be like a cohort within a cohort. That exchange experience, actually, I lived with a host family and I drank coffee with my host mom, Sita, pretty much every morning. And I think that those were some of the most life changing conversations I've ever had. You know, just, like, she was my mom away from home, and that made my American mom back home feel a lot better with having, you know, having those kind of regular interactions and having a mom away from home. I think the advice I would give is just prepare financially.
Ashley:There's a lot of ways you can do that, and I think Hope did a great job of explaining all the different funding avenues. I think the expression, if there's a will, there's a way. Part of my experience was I actually worked at a sandwich shop on Grand River for that entire fall semester leading up to my departure. And pretty much, yeah, my Saturday morning bagel schlepping job is what paid for my airline travel there and back. So yeah, I think if you wanna do it, there are many ways that you can do it, there are people here on campus who can help you figure it out.
Ashley:Think with my situation, I would also just recommend following the recommendations to prepare from a health perspective before you go. Depending on where you go, are going to be certain vaccination schedules and things of that nature that you'll be required to do. You'll have to share your health history, things of that nature, in order to get certain types of visas, so just kind of keep that in mind as well. There's a lot of paperwork involved, but there are people who can help you with that paperwork, so don't let that deter you from pursuing it. I think from the health perspective, be familiar with engagement with healthcare abroad.
Ashley:I needed to go to the doctor a few times while I was there, Such is life, going to a particular part of the world and just having that experience. It was just one of those, life happens. That's the other reality, just recognizing life happens. I think it's a great opportunity that everybody should pursue, and MSU has so many different programs. I was there for a semester, I was one of 10 students who were there for the entire semester.
Ashley:I want to give a shout out to one of our Transfer Student Advisory Board members, who our listeners heard in a previous episode. She did not one, but two study abroad experiences after transferring to MSU. One of hers, I think, took place during December, so kind of between the fall and spring semester, and then she also did a spring break experience as well. There are so many different options that can fit into whatever experience you want to have. Just if you even have an inkling of like, hey, this is something I'm interested in.
Ashley:Like Hope said, connect with your academic advisor. Amazing staff over in the office that is now part of the wider center. So yeah, just start asking questions, and then there are people who can kinda help you figure it out along the way. But definitely do it. Lifelong experiences.
Ashley:And I think one other thing, so the exchange component, one of the friends I made, so I was there to learn Spanish, took French. Crazy, crazy yes.
Lauren:That happened.
Hope:This is the best
Lauren:of us.
Ashley:One of my classmates in my French course, Monica, she actually ended up coming to MSU as an exchange to Michigan State. So she and I, you know, we got to reconnect when she came to MSU the following fall.
Zuhaer:So
Ashley:we both lived in McDonnell Hall, so it was cool. It was cool to have that kind of full circle moment with her.
Hope:Amazing. I do wanna jump into and add to what Ashley is saying. There are so many resources that the Office for Education Abroad has created to help students plan for their experiences abroad. We have very robust pre departure sessions and information about, you know, how to apply for a passport, if you need a visa on your program, how to see a doctor. And actually, all of our programs also come with comprehensive medical insurance when you travel abroad.
Hope:So I have heard students going, you know, to Germany for an academic year, and they come back, and they're like, I saw a doctor, and they cleared my acne. I got braces. Saw a chiropractor for the first time in my life. I have heard some really, you know, I one of our peer advisers who actually is now in a full right in Switzerland, he was making me laugh so much one day because he was like, I had a major glow up coming back to The United States from Germany. It's amazing.
Hope:So, you know, we have that care for a reason. We want students to use it because it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. And so there's just so many ways that you can get care when you're abroad as well, if that's something that you need because you get sick or let's say you just want to go get a really cool retainer and that is something that you might be able to do on this policy. So I would say, yeah, the planning piece is huge. And it's good to hear that you had a positive experience seeking medical care when you were in Quito because, yeah, it can be a little overwhelming and trouble, like it can be hard to navigate, new systems, when you're used to working within one system.
Hope:So that's another, I guess, benefit of education abroad is it makes you a little bit light on your feet. You are great at improvising after afterwards. The yes and piece of Yes. I need to go to the doctor's office and I need to take a train to get there, you know, which, you know, we don't really have any slansing.
Ashley:I think I think everybody grows up a little bit. Yes. On these types of experiences. For sure. Character building for sure.
Ashley:Yeah.
Zuhaer:And hearing all of that, I'm even more motivated to like use my scholarship and hopefully go and experience something abroad.
Ashley:Zuhar, I will be upset with you. I hope you don't. We
Zuhaer:definitely need to have a conversation. But aside from just the what what you're saying about experiencing this abroad makes you more accustomed to experiencing it, like being more adaptable, I totally agree with that, even though I didn't use the education abroad program that we have, this is still an education abroad for me in a way because I'm an international student and me navigating my life back in Bangladesh and then moving here and navigating life here just made me so much more adaptable and so much more like given me sharper cognitive skills and everything and I'm very grateful for it. So these are great points that you guys brought up and thank thank you so much for having this conversation with us Hope. Thank you for sharing Ashley about all of your experiences. I think with that we're going to be wrapping up today's episode of Spartan Transfer Hub.
Zuhaer:If you want to hear more episodes like this make sure to tune in on Impact eighty nine FM website, Spotify, or Apple Podcast. Go green. Thanks for stopping by the Spartan Transfer Hub brought to you by Impact89FM and MSU's Transfer Student Success Center. See you soon.