Experiences Abroad Teach Students About Home

Just about a year ago, Liliana Galo, 23, had the opportunity to impact the lives of high school students through music and language in a city located along one of the tributaries of the Amazon River.

“Every day we had a music assembly,” Galo said. “We taught them songs in English. The students really loved it, [they had] a lot of energy [and] they understood what they were singing now.”

Through the US-Brazil Connect program, Galo traveled to Porto Velho in Brazil to enrich high school students’ knowledge of English through classroom instruction as well as videoconferencing.

“We taught for four hours of the day; one coach per classroom of about 10 students,” Galo said. “We spent five days a week teaching, but getting to know their culture was the best part.”

Galo’s trip was made possible through Miami Dade College’s Office of International Education which hosts about 15 faculty led programs and holds more than 20 agreements with foreign universities around the world. This summer more than 100 MDC students are studying abroad.

Joanne Michaud, the program manager of the College’s Office of International Education, is the main contact for students interested in studying abroad.

The Office organizes its offerings into three different types of programs.

One type of program involves faculty-led efforts proposed by MDC professors. This summer, Honors College sophomore Constance Thurmond and Honors College alumni Daniela Rangel and Aaron Williams are taking credit courses in Mandarin in the People’s Republic of China.

“It’s incredible to think this trip resulted from a random visit to the Chinese Culture Club,” Thurmond posted on her Facebook page. “I am uber grateful and excited to learn with this cool group of people as we embark in a foreign and yet culturally affluent land!”

The trip was developed in part by graphic design professor Eric Cornish and is going on through mid-June.

Another type, The College Consortium for International Studies, allows MDC students to participate in study abroad programs being organized by other schools. Recent MDC graduate Valentina Plaza, will study French intensively for six hours a day in Annecy, France through language school IFALPES.

“I’m sure it will be awesome,” Plaza wrote in an email to The Reporter before her trip. “I really recommend students taking advantage of this privilege Miami Dade offers us!”

The third type of programs involves College partnerships with organizations that specifically organize study abroad programs, such as Galo’s trip to Brazil which was sponsored by US-Brazil Connect.

Outside MDC departments also offer trips abroad. The Confucius Institute’s July trip to China takes place at Beijing International Chinese College, which hosts students for two weeks for Chinese language learning, arts engagement and cultural immersion. The trip requires students to pay only for airfare and visa fees and to complete two levels of Chinese credit courses at MDC. This year, 21 students from MDC are participating.

Prior to arriving in France, Plaza had to plan carefully in order to finance her trip.

“Before even starting my first semester, [Michaud] gave me information and prepared a budget for me,” Plaza said. “I started saving money to be able to go. I would have gotten financial aid, but I had used it all.”

Some programs, such as Galo’s trip to Brazil, combine funding from different sources in order to substantially lower the cost for prospective travelers. In her case, US-Brazil Connect covered housing, meals and transportation through a fellowship, while Miami Dade College covered airfare.

“I sincerely think that no one could have been able to go if it wasn’t covered,” Galo said.

Galo estimates the sum total of her trip was somewhere between $3,000 and $4,000. Plaza estimates her trip’s cost to be around $3,500 including lodging costs.

Jean Daphnis, the current Director of Financial Aid at the Wolfson Campus, is the contact for students seeking financial aid for study abroad programs. Although Miami Dade College does not offer financial aid packages solely for study abroad purposes, Daphnis meets with students to counsel them about using their financial aid refund for their trip.

Students taking courses abroad through faculty-led programs can have their credits validated by the MDC financial aid system. Those taking courses through consortium agreements must meet with Daphnis in order to have the funds for those courses disbursed manually.

According to Michaud, the application process generally requires students to meet with her to discuss their interests in study abroad. Students then meet with their academic advisor in order to determine their ability to take courses abroad, and finally begin developing a budget sheet in order to finance the program.

“The application process is really simple, I just had to write an essay and answer some questions,” said Plaza. “Perhaps the most complicated part is waiting for an answer to see if I had been accepted. Once I received the acceptance letter, I also received all the forms I had to fill out in order to travel.”

Michaud, who has traveled to China and France, said study abroad programs can build students’ confidence by getting them out of their comfort zone, provide them with cross-cultural experience and make them more marketable when seeking employment.

Margaret Di Gennaro, a Grant Support Coordinator at the Kendall Campus, traveled to Brazil, Ecuador and India through a Rotary International Youth Exchange program and through Syracuse University in New York.

“It’s very beneficial to have real-life experiences in another country,” Di Gennaro said. “Each country has changed me quite a bit.”

To learn more about Miami Dade College’s Study Abroad programs contact: Joanne Michaud, at (305) 237-3008 or at jmichau1@mdc.edu