DE Campus Life Editor 19.4

Instead of staying in the comfortable, familiar surroundings of SIUC to further her education, Morgan Bainbridge broadened her horizons in Austria and Switzerland.

Each year, SIUC students in all fields of study learn about different cultures and foreign teachings when they study abroad.

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Bainbridge, a senior in foreign language from Elgin, said she went to Austria in fall 1995 and enjoyed studying abroad so much that she went to Switzerland the next year to study at the Dolmetscher Schule school of translation.

I enjoyed the experience of living in a different culture and the different way of life, she said. The lifestyles are quite different than the campus at Carbondale.

Bainbridge said although the Study Abroad Program was a requirement she needed to complete her major, she was glad to have the experience.

If I didn’t have to do it, I would have done it anyway, she said.

Tom Saville, the director of the Study Abroad Programs, said students from every major have participated in the program.

There is no particular restriction on studying abroad, he said. Some people are last-semester seniors who are finished with requirements and all they need is hours, so they study abroad. We have students going to Japan, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands and Mexico this semester.

John LaFlamboy, a senior in theater from Chicago, is the first theater student to attend the Utrecht School of the Arts in the Netherlands.

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Unlike Bainbridge, LaFlamboy said he found it a difficult task to be accepted to the program abroad.

I found a lot of red tape and bureaucracy to get into the school, he said. I was told by a lot of people that because of them not getting our e-mail that I missed the deadline and wouldn’t be able to go. I was determined, so I set my alarm clock for 4 a.m. and called and asked to speak to the chair of the department.

LaFlamboy’s effort paid off when he found out he was accepted into the school in the Netherlands.

When I called I had a half-hour conversation with the chair of the department, he said. I called back one week later and was accepted. The phone call was about 70 bucks, but it was worth it.

There are some students who get information about the place where they want to study abroad but do not have first-hand knowledge of how things work. However, Lee Maples, a graduate student in scene design from Valley, Ala., said he went to the school he wanted to attend to personally see what the school could offer.

I went to the school of Utrecht, and the most beneficial thing that I experienced was the opportunity to talk to students coming into the program and students coming out, he said. It’s a matter of taking what you know and what they ask you to do and borrowing from both programs.

Maples said he met a teacher at Utrecht who had an approach to scene design that seemed strange because of the way Maples had been taught.

She said the scene designer should be the costume designer as well as attend the auditions to make sure the casting director cast the roles right, he said. I think when you study abroad you should take what the instructors say to heart and realize that it might not be something that Americans are used to.

Saville said about 193 SIUC students studied abroad last year.

The big reason students go to study abroad is a personal interest, or either they are adventurous, he said. Students are often interested in developing their careers and resums. We always stress the importance of intercultural communications skills.

Saville said students can go just about any place in the world to study abroad because of the many programs offered.

There is some kind of exchange program on every continent, he said. These days, you can’t just be content with putting in time going to class. You need to do something like study abroad or internships to set your resum apart from the 10,000 other students graduating in your major.

Anyone interested in studying abroad can call the Study Abroad office at 453-7670.