Students opt to go abroad for study

The spring semester Study Abroad Fair was held last Thursday, attracting students who wanted to learn about the different international opportunities they could take to receive credits outside of the Vertical Campus.

Hosted by the Study Abroad office in the Multipurpose Room, representatives from different programs and colleges were available to assist students with their options of studying within countries of interest.

Richard Mitten, director of Study Abroad, was present at the event, welcoming students to the informative session to discuss the advantages of the fair and going abroad.

"The real measure of success of any study abroad fair is the interest and enthusiasm of the students who do come to the fair, and judging by those criteria, I consider the fair to have been a big success," said Mitten.

According to Mitten, the number of attendees was down from last year's fair due to "the inclement weather and the current economic climate," which played a role in students and parents being more cautious about studying abroad.

"We will do our best to increase our efforts to make more students aware of the opportunities open to them, especially of the scholarships that they may be eligible for and which would make studying abroad less of a financial burden."

Aleksey Martynynk, a Baruch student, studied abroad three times.

"To study abroad is not as hard as it seems, there are so many different programs made affordable for the students," he said.

"It is a life-changing experience, just ask anyone who has done it."

England, China, Spain, India, Brazil, Italy, Israel, Germany and Amsterdam were some of the locations outside of the country that provide study abroad options for students to pursue.

Wayne Finke, deputy chair of the modern languages and comparative literature department and a Study Abroad advisor, started a program in Salamanca, Spain, 20 years ago.

"The students leave behind their parochial world and come to experience a more globalized environment with a rigorous course of study, four or five hours a day, and ample opportunity for local and international travel in neighboring countries like Portugal, France, Italy, Morocco," he said.

Maria-Luiza Ruiz, program director of the department of foreign languages at Medgar Evers said "there are scholarships available for CUNY study abroad programs for the summer 2010, including Study/Travel Opportunities for CUNY Students scholarships and Federal Pell for part-time students who wish to study abroad during the summer."