They’re home safe.

Nearly a dozen ag students and faculty members who traveled abroad last year were welcomed back to Iowa State during a reception Monday in Curtiss Hall.

They journeyed to places all over the world, from Greece to Brazil. The students and teachers relayed several interesting and amusing anecdotes about being “world travelers” and reminisced about their adventures overseas.

One student had appendicitis during her study-abroad trip.

“I was in Uzbekistan (part of the former Soviet Union) when I had to get my appendix out,” Shelley Taylor, who graduated last spring in anthropology, said.

“I was nervous about going to the hospital, but an experience like that really makes you rely on your own talents. It actually built my confidence,” she said.

“Because people from other countries are so generous, an experience like that was a positive experience,” she said.

“China will become a very important partner for both the U.S. and Iowa in the next couple years. For students who choose to travel and get experience in China, I guarantee it will jump-start your career,” David Archer, director of international agricultural programs, said.

Part of the hour-long reception was the students’ sharing some of the lessons they learned through their traveling experience.

Cheri Black, a junior in microbiology who went to Panama, said, “Through my traveling, the most important thing I learned was how to deal with different people and different situations and still get along.”

Karna Burzlaff, sophomore in international agriculture and ag. education, went to Greece for two months during the summer.

“I learned that even when I got frustrated, everything would work out,” she said. “Through thick and thin, I discovered if something goes wrong, I could change it.”

Many of the students cited communication as one of the main obstacles in adapting to another country’s culture.

“You kind of have to learn how to do a lot of hand gestures and things like that. It was definitely the biggest difference, but it did work out,” Jenny Shannon, a senior in animal science, said.

Vanessa Lutz, a senior in ag. education and international ag., agreed, “Communication is difficult, but anybody from another country can play pool or share common interests.”

“A smile is a smile in any language,” Lutz said.

Archer and several other speakers stressed scholarships and financial aid are available for students who are interested in studying abroad but cannot afford the cost.

David Topel, dean of the College of Agriculture, said only five percent of ISU ag. students take advantage of the study abroad programs, in comparison to other Midwestern schools like Michigan State, where 40 percent of the agriculture students participate.

“Only a small number of ISU students have experienced overseas life,” he said. “The first thing many companies look at nowadays [in a prospective employee] is whether or not they have studied abroad, and whether or not they have studied another language.”

Archer said the study abroad program has had a terrific year. “We doubled the numbers of students who travel abroad in one year, and we’d like to double it again. And I don’t see why we can’t,” he said.

Nearly 90 ag. students chose to study abroad last year. Several of the trips planned for this year include China, Mexico, Europe, Scotland, the Netherlands, Hungary, Costa Ric During last spring break, six students from the department of forestry participated in a field trip to Quintana Roo in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico.

Also, 23 students from agronomy and economics traveled to Costa Rica for a study aboard course in sustainable agricultural and economic development.

During the summer, three students from the College of Agriculture traveled to Panama for a 10-day field study program.

Four animal science students participated as interns in Thailand. Also, several students from animal ecology and food technology traveled to Costa Rica.