Another chance for students to be exposed to the many opportunities offered by Missouri Southern to travel the world was offered through the Study Abroad Fair 2005.

“Since we’re here in the Midwest, we don’t really get to be exposed to outside cultures,” said James Kilpatrick, assistant professor of Spanish. “We want to take a group of students to another country and spend about five or six days there. Such as with the Spring Break to Mexico trip, the goal there is to experience the true inner workings of the modern Mexican family. Other goals are to see museums and famous artists.”

Trips and information about the trips offered at the fair included visits to Germany, Costa Rica, Chile, Japan, China, Mexico, Russia, Italy, Greece and France.

“I’m interested in studying abroad since one of my majors is Spanish,” said Kimberly Forest, freshman political science and Spanish major. “I think it would be interesting to study in a foreign country. My teacher said that it helps to learn about a foreign language if you are forced to be in a situation like that. It’s also great that you get college credit for it while getting to see a different country.”

Natasha Figueroa, freshman general business and Spanish major, said many of the presentations showed how the trips help students.

“The pictures [on the billboards] showed me how much fun the students that went had,” Figueroa said. “They also showed me all the cool stuff I would be able to visit if I went.”

Forest agreed.

“Studying a different culture would help me a lot,” Forest said. “Since my major is political science, I also want to go into international politics. Knowing about a different culture and their government could really come in handy.”

She said going on a study abroad trip would allow her to make new friends.

“I have heard the people that go on these trips end up being pretty close,” Forest said. “At the very least, doing something like this would really help me out with my Spanish.”

Kilpatrick said study abroad travels will help students in the future.

“What we’re seeing is that bosses look at [Study Abroad] students as people who are flexible, hard working and willing to try something new,” Kilpatrick said. “It shows the employer that the student can go into any situation and come out of it successful and unscathed.”