Marketable graduates
Study abroad helps Purdue graduates differentiate
themselves in a crowded job market, Stitsworth says. “All
things being equal, our students compete better with other agriculture
graduates because they had study abroad experience,” he says.
“Companies tell us they like to hire graduates who have been
abroad because they understand the diverse workplace. They’re
more comfortable around people who are not just like themselves.”
Pam Geswein ’98 says her semester in Sweden
piqued the interest of every employer she interviewed with. The
agricultural economics graduate is director of professional development
for the Association of School Business Officials, International
in Reston, Va. “I have study abroad listed on my resume, even
to this day,” she says.
Geswein came to Purdue from rural Palmyra, Ind.,
with little travel experience. She found the program of study in
Sweden fascinating and achieved some language fluency. But in hindsight,
much of her education occurred in her day-to-day life in a foreign
country. “That whole semester, I learned more about myself
than anything else,” she says.
Life skills
In addition to academic credit and a stronger
resume, study abroad just changes you, according to returning students.
“Being abroad definitely made me more willing to do things
on my own, go out on a limb,” says Travis White, a senior
from Cloverdale, Ind., majoring in agricultural sales and marketing.
White has logged two programs through IPIA. In the summer following
his sophomore year, he lived with a host family in Tokyo while he
interned at a firm that markets U.S. agricultural commodities in
Japan. Last semester, he became the first Purdue Agriculture student
to complete a semester in Ireland, where he enrolled in courses
in agricultural business, crop science and food marketing at University
College Dublin.
Although very different, both cultures were welcoming,
White says. “I liked the whole cultural experience in Japan,
the diversity and getting to see another culture. I decided the
second time I would go to an English-speaking country, since I’d
already been to a culture that was the most different from ours.
White is considering graduate school in international marketing
or law school—possibly in New South Wales, Australia.
Senior agricultural economics major Beth Rhoades
had not ventured too far from her family’s farm near Crawfordsville,
Ind. But last semester, Rhoades lived in Uppsala, Sweden, and commuted
by bus to her development studies classes at the Swedish University
of Agricultural Sciences, site of IPIA’s largest semester
and full-year programs.
“The first couple of days, I was thinking,
‘What have I done?’” Rhoades recalls. “Six
hours of daylight, cold and snow everywhere. At the grocery, I didn’t
even know what things were. But with time, you figure things out
on your own. I made all my own travel arrangements, made friends
and fit in with people who were completely different from me. Personally,
I just came back with such a sense of accomplishment. Being abroad
makes you feel like you could do anything.”
When Rhoades completes her degree, she plans
to work in the food industry, where she expects her experience overseas
will continue serving her well: “It’s definitely an
advantage in this day and age,” she says.
“We see students come back with a much
greater appreciation of the United States,” Stitsworth adds.
“They come to question in a healthy way why and how we do
things in the country. These kinds of awakenings are all part of
a well-rounded education.”
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