Junior Eric Park knew since high school that he wanted to spend a semester studying abroad in Spain.
He said he enjoyed learning about the history and culture of that country and had developed a passion for the Spanish language.
So when it came time to choose a college, he picked a college that could give him the opportunity to go overseas for a semester or a year.
Park chose SMU, and like many students, went abroad. He is spending his fall semester in Spain.
“I love the fact that Spain has really ceased to shock me,” he said in an e-mail interview.
Park said his experience has affected him, and he expects that he’ll discover a lot of change within himself when he gets back to Dallas.
For Park, studying abroad is central to his experience at SMU. Likewise, the General Education Review committee is proposing that international experience become a required element for all SMU students under the new general education curriculum.
The proposed University Curriculum would add a “global engagement” component, which Associate Provost Thomas Tunks said would most likely be a study- or internship-abroad experience.
The goal of the component, according to the proposed curriculum, is for students to interact with and reflect on different societies and cultures.
“However, knowing that there will always be at least some small number of students who, for some reason, simply cannot get overseas, the Committee envisioned the possibility of a domestic experience involving international population(s) that could satisfy the requirement,” Tunks said in an e-mail interview.
University faculty and staff will be working on the specifics of the new curriculum and the proposed global component over the next year. The new GEC would not take effect until Fall 2011.
Sophomore Bridget Le doesn’t have the time in her graduation plan to study abroad, nor is she sure she can afford it. Although ideally she would like to study abroad, she does not want to extend her stay at SMU to do so.
“I am not looking to stay at SMU for a longer period of time because I plan on going to grad school after graduating from SMU. I want to spend my summers studying for the test to get into the grad school that I want,” she said.
Le likes the addition of a global component to the GEC.
“That would be great if SMU added a global component to the general curriculum,” she said. “I would be thrilled. It would be a great addition, and I would for sure do it if I had known at the beginning of my time here to be ready for it and to plan ahead.”
International Senator Alexandra Cabane also likes this plan.
“Being exposed to different people and their cultures helped me appreciate the difference between all of us and prepared me to live in a globalized world,” she said. “I believe that this new GEC global component will do the same for every SMU student.”
Cabane, a senior from Guatemala City, Guatemala, said her experience as an international student has broadened her world view.
“Throughout my college years I have remained true to my culture and at the same time I have opened my eyes to others. By being outside of my comfort zone I have realized that there is so much more to the world than what my eyes are able to see.”
Park agreed saying, he has gained a first-hand perspective on life in another country. He said his experience is all he could ever ask for. While he loves the things he describes as “touristy,” such as art and history, Park said he’s begun to appreciate the everyday things.
“I’ve also started to appreciate the fact that when I ride the subway, I spend it irritably worrying about if I’m running late, as opposed to looking wide-eyed with a map and snapping pictures of every goofy haircut I see,” he wrote.
