This past summer, University of Maryland Eastern Shore students participated in various study abroad trips spanning the globe.
The faculty-led excursions, many supported by UMES’s Center for International Education (CIE), covered six countries over three continents including Columbia, England, Denmark, Greece, Spain, and Zambia.
As part of the study abroad experience, the Office of Academic Affairs, which houses the CIE, provides a $1,000 scholarship per student to help students defray travel costs to increase participation in the trips. In all, 44 students participated in study abroad trips.
“This was an impressive turnout for our study abroad programs,” said CIE Interim Director Phillip Broussard. “Last summer, we offered three different programs, which were all under-enrolled, so we had to cancel all of them.”
Broussard said there was a 100-percent increase in student participation over the past 10 years, and a 133-percent increase compared with last summer. He attributed the growth in interest to both greater awareness of the study abroad programs and students wanting to travel more post-pandemic.
“We wanted to increase the capacity for students to understand why travel is important to their future and how cultural understanding really helps to bring the world together,” he said.
“The best way to do that is when you’re in an immersive environment and experiencing travel first-hand.”
Junior rehabilitation psychology major Angelica Vilorio is one of five UMES students who traveled to Denmark for a two-week trip. Vilorio, who is from Puerto Rico, said this trip was her first outside the United States and described the experience as “eye-opening” because of the cultural differences she saw in Denmark.
“It’s more of a socially conscious place,” she said. “There’s more of a consideration of others and it feels like they really care about each other.”
A history-making visit
Among the other faculty-led trips abroad, the group’s travel to Greece had twofold historical significance.
Members of UMES’s Department of Kinesiology attended the Olympism in Action: Champions of Change Conference led by UMES Kinesiology professor Dr. Alexis Lyras. UMES became the first HBCU to visit the International Olympic Academy (IOA) – the main educational and cultural institution of the International Olympic Committee. In all, five UMES faculty members and four students participated in the conference.
As part of the conference, students attended lectures and participated in a brainstorming session to “develop strategies to tackle pressing community issues,” according to Dr. Yen Dang, Kinesiology Department Chair, who also attended the conference.
The UMES contingent developed a proposal called “Olympism from Humanity,” which focuses on addressing health education within the local community through exercise. The concept would lead to the creation of a field day event for children with an Olympic theme to increase engagement.
During their last day at IOA, the UMES group also made stops in Athens, Delphi, and the island of Trizonia.
“Learning about the foundations of the Olympics allowed me to understand the true scope of Olympic ideals and how they have the potential to reach further than just the games,” said Kaitlyn Eaton, a freshman exercise science major. “Going to Greece also gave me some much-needed cultural experience, an opportunity I likely would have never had otherwise.”
