“They’re not staring at us.”

The statement was significant. For 16 ISU students this summer, the day at the home for street children was the first time they didn’t feel like they were living in a goldfish bowl. To the rest of the well-meaning (and curious) locals, the conspicuous Iowans attracted constant attention. But the street kids were too savvy to stare. They wouldn’t have cared if native Iowans were purple.

That day with the street kids was special. The Iowa students learned quickly what it was like to be shoved out on the street at age four or five, live on scraps from a dumpster and clomp around in one boot while you sniff glue to stave off your hunger. They learned what it meant to really sacrifice, for a man to open a rehabilitation center for street kids, earn their trust, and slowly teach them. To use a toilet. To sleep in a bed. To go to school.

The street kids sang and did acrobatics and then paired off with the Iowa students. Pretty soon, they were cleaning the cow pen together. They were touring the dorms with the street kids, snapping photos and making friends. Pretty soon the whole group had formed a couple of baseball teams and the native soccer players were learning America’s pastime.

The Iowans went to Kenya for a number of reasons. They wanted to see the impressive landscape, the exotic animals and the tribes they had seen on National Geographic specials. All the Iowa students considered the day with the street kids one of their favorites, above and beyond what they had expected, and more memorable than the thousands of flamingoes, the plunging Rift Valley or a coffee plantation.

As part of a service learning project on the “Experience Kenya” program, the Iowa students were no longer merely attending a university or touring another country. They had formed community with some street kids from the developing world and finally blended in to the fabric of east Africa.

The human bonds forged while experiencing another place and culture are powerful. Fortunately, study abroad is not reserved for the very privileged or ultra brilliant. The cost of most study abroad programs at Iowa State is very close to what one would spend in a similar period to take classes at Iowa State thanks to a generous 90 percent tuition remission on group programs.

While you may believe that only child prodigies can get accepted on study abroad programs, many programs are open to students of good academic standing with a 2.5 GPA and above. Some programs are a bit more selective, but Iowa State has more than 100 programs in roughly 40 countries.

Last year, students were gone for a week on Spring Break in Costa Rica, a summer working abroad in London, a semester in Australia, or a year in Hong Kong. You don’t have to speak another language or even go alone. Many programs are with a small group of ISU students led by ISU faculty.

The International Opportunities Fair is on today from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union. Go and chat with people and figure out if you want to go to Turkmenistan for two years or to Italy for two weeks.

In a climate of uncertainty, with comments akin to “everyone hates America” getting flung around carelessly, it’s our responsibility to disarm rumors and seek truths. We can do this by traveling outside the country to see another way of life and learning about another culture.

Just ask the ISU students who went to Kenya. They not only broke the barriers between themselves and some African street kids, but they made friends. Most importantly, they’ll never see another news report of Kenya or anywhere else in Africa and dismiss as another one of “those” countries with “those” people.

Study abroad makes places real and helps students grow academically while learning about themselves. What are you waiting for?

Rachel Faber Machacha is a graduate in international development from Emmetsburg.