A good match
Although IPIA promotes study abroad through presentations
and mailing, word of mouth is its best marketing tool, bringing
increasing numbers of students to its door.
Many Purdue agriculture majors are in-state students
from rural areas; they tend to have less experience with international
travel. “We put a lot of students on airplanes who have never
been on a plane before,” Stitsworth says. Understandably,
their parents worry about their safety, academic progress and the
added value of study abroad in landing a job.
Finding a suitable program for each student therefore
requires time and care. Stitsworth likens the process to a dating
service: “We’re matchmakers,” he says, not entirely
joking: “We match students with countries.” The IPIA
staff looks at the student’s academic record, finances and,
most important, his or her plan of study and how study abroad fits
in. Students generally want to study in English, although many return
from a program with increased interest in learning their host country’s
language.
Study abroad is no longer the domain of college
juniors; in fact, it may conflict with paid internship opportunities
that arise for juniors closer to home. IPIA staff encourages students
to travel earlier in college to help fine-tune their career objectives.
“Many return with new interests,” Stitsworth explains.
“Parents tell us all the time that study abroad was a ‘growing
experience’ for their son or daughter. The students return
more flexible and independent. They grow up a lot in a short period
of time, and that kind of growth is also conducive to success in
college.”
IPIA staff challenge students to consider different
options. Stitsworth says that most students come to his office interested
in Australia—like Matt Eckerle ’03. The graduate in
plant sciences meandered into IPIA after seeing a flier on programs
Down Under. When IPIA staff learned of his interest in camping,
backpacking and the outdoors, they steered him to a semester at
Lincoln University in New Zealand. Both the setting and his courses
in plant science, ecology, forestry and toxicology were a perfect
fit, he says.
But not at first. When he got off the plane in
Auckland, Eckerle tried conversing with a native of his host country:
“Even though he was speaking English, I could understand about
50 percent of what he was saying. After two weeks there, I was using
the same expressions and even the accent to communicate better.”
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