“As a study abroad advocate with extensive experience in the field of international education, I recognized long ago that the rapid growth of technology in our interconnected world would require that African American students graduate with both a laptop and a passport in hand in order to be competitive.” — Starlett Craig

Several years have passed since I first made an impassioned plea to African-American college students to set their sights on global travel after graduation.

I passionately championed this experience after observing that students who participated in a study abroad experience were gaining a competitive edge in the workforce and a truly global perspective, both of which are highly valued in the job market today. Having immersed themselves in another country, a different culture and often having pursued a second language as well, they were acquiring what we now define as “global competence.”   

World events have a major impact on not just our everyday lives, but on the institutions that govern our lives, as well as the places where we live and work.  Exploring the entirety of the world we live in is probably the best way to acquire firsthand knowledge about contemporary social, political and economic events that will shape America’s future. We must ask ourselves: What are the trends in the global economy? How is the United States addressing global warming in contrast to other nations?  What do we know about global poverty or even global health for that matter?  

It is interesting to recognize how many of these phrases have now seeped into the transcript of the nightly news broadcast.  But what does it mean to the typical college student? In a word, it means that today’s headline will shape your future no matter where you live.

As a study abroad advocate with extensive experience in the field of international education, I recognized long ago that the rapid growth of technology in our interconnected world would require that African American students graduate with both a laptop and a passport in hand in order to be competitive. I wanted students who were underrepresented in education abroad to be aware of the opportunities and sought to use my own voice to raise awareness and do much needed outreach.

Today, those earlier predictions regarding the laptop computer and a U.S. passport have come to pass.  During the 2001-02 academic year, it became a universal mandate at my university for all entering freshman to purchase a laptop computer. In 2001, we witnessed a world event (9/11) that impacted our national security and further prompted the growth of study abroad programs in nontraditional destinations and the pursuit of critical foreign languages. A student willing to learn Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Japanese, Korean, Russian or Urdu for example, can receive extensive scholarship support to study abroad. Our own United States Department of Defense is one of the main purveyors of this scholastic support.

In 2004, the President and the United States Congress appointed the Commission on the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program. This 17 member bi-partisan committee issued a full report of its findings in November 2005, thereby paving the way for 2006 to be nationally recognized as the Year of Study Abroad.

While the numbers of U.S. students studying abroad has increased, African American students represent only 3.5 percent of the total. Given the development on the world stage within the last decade, I could write a new list of top ten reasons to study abroad. But, I prefer instead to enumerate a few reasons as to why our government feels it imperative to make it possible for 1 million American students to study abroad annually by the year 2017.

Let me highlight a few of the facts from the Abraham Lincoln Commission’s final report:

•Living in a foreign country helps students better understand other cultures as well as their own.

•Study abroad improves foreign language skills.

•Study abroad accelerates skill building and strengthens strategic relationships.

•Study abroad opens the door to new career options.

Recent federal reports cite a language and cultural skill shortage in more than 70 agencies critical to national security, public diplomacy and economic competitiveness.

It is important to prepare our undergraduates to live and work in a global society and study abroad is one of the ways in which this can be accomplished.

Anyone desiring to know the facts can take note of the aforementioned bullets and understand why it is important to populate your own list of things to do and places to see before you graduate. Seeing the world and earning college credit has never been easier.

For more information on scholarships and resources to help you plan a study abroad experience, I recommend a seeking out the resources on your college campus and visiting the following Web site to find on-line mentors: www.AllAbroadus.com

(Starlett Craig is an academic program director at Clemson University and coordinator of Global Initiatives at the Charles H. Houston Center for the Study of the Black Experience in Education.  She has traveled extensively and taken groups of high school students abroad. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Bardoli Global Foundation, and is a member of NAFSA: The Association of International Educators.)