Engineering students had the opportunity to speak with other students about studying abroad at the Tour the World: Where Engineers Study Abroad event Wednesday.
Students with experience in studying abroad were set up on the first floor of the Student Innovation Center teaching other students what studying abroad looks like.
Shannon Miner, director of engineering international programs and assistant director of engineering recruitment and student services, said it is important for engineering students to study abroad for the experience.
“The main goal of an engineer is to solve problems, and how problems are solved in different parts of the world is different,” Miner said. “There are different ways to approach problems, studying abroad makes mindsets much wider.”
Additionally, Miner said Tour the World gives students opportunities to speak to people who have experience, unlike faculty who haven’t.
“Students get to visit with other students who have actually gone on these study abroad programs,” Miner said. “[Faculty] can’t give the student experience, what the program is like for an engineer or what the classes look like.”
Allison Hubbell, a senior in industrial engineering, said she is just hoping to talk to some of those students who are considering studying abroad.
“Just telling them how to get started, and help them take the first steps in applying and getting started with their studying abroad experience,” Hubbell said.
Hubbell encourages students to get into study abroad programs someday because of the benefits.
“You get to meet so many new people and really stretch your skills and abilities,” Hubbell said. “You’re put in situations you’ve never experienced before, it can be a little intimidating, but you learn so much from it. You also become a better engineer.”
Alison De Luna, a first-year mechanical engineering student, said she was able to learn more from the peer discussions.
“I learned they’re really open to international students and they want you to go so they can teach you,” De Luna said. “Even if you know the language or not there’s a lot of opportunities to take classes that are important and they can often speak English in those classes.”
Chase O’Connell, a senior in electrical engineering, said the new environment was the biggest part of studying abroad.
“Working with a wide array of people and understanding different clients was big,” O’Connell said. “Also building up communication skills is very helpful in the field of engineering and a very desired skill that can be picked up from studying abroad.”
O’Connell added that the Tour the World event was different from previous times.
“This is the first one where students are actually leading the event,” O’Connell said. “Before this, it was more of a mix of faculty talking about the programs. I think having students here makes it a little more easy to access for freshman and sophomore students as it can be more relatable.”
More about the Tour the World event can be found here.
