CHANGE YOUR
WORLD VIEW Study abroad boosts student confidence and job prospects by Luis Zaragoza
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tudents looking for a leg-up in the job market—and in life—should consider doing something bold: Get out of the country. For a while, at least. Through existing programs and faculty-led projects, Valencia students already have been to places such as Denmark, Brazil and the Dominican Republic. But to give more students the chance to break away, Valencia is busily developing a wider array of study-abroad opportunities. Here’s why: Spending time immersed in a foreign culture can have a profound effect on students’ lives and influence career choices, educators say. Experiencing foreign customs and languages, they add, gives students a wider perspective on the world. That deeper knowledge is important because if the United States is to remain competitive in the world economy, it needs
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college graduates who can relate in a genuine way to people from many different cultures, educators say. Study abroad helps students “learn to appreciate and value different ways of doing things,” says Jennifer Robertson, director of Valencia’s Study Abroad and Global Experiences program, or SAGE. Life-changing experience Robertson knows firsthand how study abroad can influence your life. She traveled to Mexico as a girl and developed a love for Spanish. This inspired her to study Spanish in college and later teach Spanish and English as a Second Language. She would eventually land in Puerto Rico, where she founded and ran a language school for seven years. She came to Valencia in 2001 to start the Center for Global Languages, which is now a