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Climbing the Ropes
After meeting with Thomas Baker, I had a number of interviews left to figure out what I still had to know. I felt slightly overwhelmed by the magnitude of my project combined with my academics, but I was excited to keep moving. I had a goal in mind and I had just made a big step in the right direction. My next big step was interviewing two women, Krista LaVack and Bethany Parker, who are in charge of all the International Programs on campus.
Bethany and Krista have a lot of synergy together which I found to be both fascinating and humorous. They barely needed to talk to each other yet were always on the same page about everything. They switched seamlessly talking about who does what and how it can be done. At some points, I felt as if I was talking to the same person in two different bodies because of how effortlessly they'd finish each other's thoughts or pick up right where the other left off. They had a lot to tell me and it was intriguing to see just how much there is to do both inside and outside of the U.S..
The thing they stressed most was the fact that almost everything they offer requires planning. Lots of planning, and it should all be taken care of as far ahead of time as possible. Things like immigration support or asking a quick question can be done at any time, but if you're serious about leaving campus to go anywhere you need to make appointments months, if not years, in advance. I'll explain more of why that is later.
There is a huge amount of programs to go both inside and outside the United States. LoCAL has access to over 1000 SUNY programs across the world, so if you can name a country there's a high likelihood of you being able to go there. These programs are typically faculty lead, and are as long as a few weeks in the summer, a semester, or an entire academic year. You don't need to have an exceptionally high GPA, with most programs requiring a 2.5 or higher. You also don't need to know the native language or any foreign language to quality, although that would definitely be helpful.
Smaller bits of information they told me included immigration support, where you can be helped with most issues regarding an F or J Visa. If your issues can't be solved between Bethany and Krista, which could happen because the department is still growing, you'll be provided with outside resources to help you. There's also a more focused program for students called the National Student Exchange (NSE), where you can study abroad throughout North America, like the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Canada, and Puerto Rico.
The reason making appointments early is so important is because of two main factors: credits and finance. When you make an appointment, you're scheduling one on one advising with a professional, for free, to make sure you graduate on time by getting the credits you need. Credits are the only way to graduate and getting enough of the right credits can be hard to do. Bethany and Krista are qualified to let you know what programs would be beneficial to you graduating, and can also tie in what you're looking for from International Programs with other departments of LoCAL, like Career Services or Internships.
Finance is the other incredibly important factor because, as the United States stands right now, it can be difficult to afford college. Taking out loans has become a necessity for most college students and at Potsdam one semester costs around $11,000. Even the cheaper programs available are still going to be somewhat above that number, but the cost of leaving campus to study elsewhere depends on where you're going, for how long, and the specific program you'll be utilizing. Making appointments will help you get more accurate and relevant information to you about the cost to can figure out whether or not it's a financially smart decision.
Bethany and Krista gave me a lot of information and it felt very encouraging to interview them. They were just as enthusiastic about letting students know what's offered to them as I was, and gave very constructive feedback to all of my questions, some of which I hadn't asked yet.
I left the interview feeling accomplished, with this sense of anticipation that I would use this information to benefit others. I had a better understanding of how I was going to reach my end goal, and felt considerably farther along in my project than I once was. I was eager to hear from other faculty members and couldn't wait to polish all the information I could gather and start taking more steps, but that's a story for another week.
Here's to hoping, and thanks for reading.