ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ hosted the 2018 North Carolina Association of International Educators (NCAIE) Study Abroad Re-entry Conference on Saturday, April 7. This collaborative conference brings together students from across the state to reflect on their study abroad experiences.

This event highlights the importance of going through the re-entry process, allowing students to share their stories including the challenges and benefits of studying abroad. Throughout the day, various sessions covered diverse topics including the experience of reverse culture shock, the discovery of intercultural skills enhancement and the incorporation of global experiences into résumés and job interviews. 

In addition to educational sessions and personal and professional development workshops, the conference included the “Two-to-Tell” competition. The day opened with short student presentations in which the student is given two minutes and six PowerPoint slides to tell their global story. Conference attendees voted on their favorite presentation – first place earned a prize of $150. 

The 2018 winner of the Two-to-Tell competition was ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ junior Gabriella Fies. “I decided to participate in the Two-To-Tell competition because it seemed like the perfect platform to share a short story of my time abroad in Indonesia,” said Fies. “I tried to use pictures that drew on moments I found most meaningful while in Indonesia.”

Her presentation included images of her homestay bedroom in the village of Kerambitan in Bali, her research advisor Bapak Sudarta, and a “post-eruption” Mount Agung.

The winning presentation was given in the form of excerpts from journal entries that Gabriella kept while abroad. “It is now October 18 and my friend Amy waves goodbye as she reminds me to, ‘help people back home respect our religion because we only have respect for theirs,’” wrote Fies. 

Zoe Budsworth, a sophomore at ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ, attended the conference as an international student ambassador.  For Budsworth, the N.C. Study Abroad Re-entry Conference was enlightening, and the experience provided her with tips on how to adjust to life in the U.S. after studying abroad. “The afternoon sessions I attended taught me a lot about service abroad and international education,” said Budsworth. “This conference has made me want to explore International education more and all the possible careers within it.”

This is the first time that the NCAIE N.C. study abroad re-entry conference has been hosted at ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ. University of North Carolina Greensboro hosted the conference from its debut in 2013 until last year. “When NCAIE needed a conference host for 2018, I thought ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ would serve as an excellent site,” said Allegra Laing, NCAIE past chair. “We have a strong commitment to global engagement and we are centrally located within the state.”

Laing, a study abroad coordinator at ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ’s Global Education Center, served as the chair for NCAIE from March 2017 through March 2018. In this position she fostered the goals of the organization at the state level and served as a resource and mentor to other board members. A key to success in this position is the ability to be sensitive to and aware of international education concerns, something that Laing has understood here at ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ. “As an international educator, I strongly believe that we can better serve our students when campuses work together,” said Laing.

Students from across several institutions in North Carolina attended the conference including Saint Augustine’s University, Meredith College, North Carolina State University, University of North Carolina Charlotte, Guilford College, University of North Carolina Greensboro, East Carolina University, Durham Technical Community College and Hamilton College. 

“It was wonderful to see so many students from schools across North Carolina discussing re-entry,” said Maria Papapietro, study abroad coordinator. “The effects of study away experiences on students often ripple through an entire lifetime, and opportunities like these allow students to tell their stories in meaningful ways. We hope that through this conference, students will view study away as the beginning of a lifetime of global engagement.”

Four ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ students and three staff members from ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ’s Global Education Center (GEC) and the Center For Race, Ethnicity, and Diversity Education (CREDE) met in Miami, Florida, to discuss “New Realities & Untapped Potential” at the sixth annual and .  

More than 500 educators, professionals and student leaders attended the conference with the shared vision of creating greater equity in global education.

For the past six years, the Diversity Abroad Conference has been the most comprehensive national forum in global education, discussing the issues of diversity, access and inclusion. The conference sets its goal as ensuring “that the next generation of young people from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds are equipped with the knowledge, skills and experience to be academically, personally and professionally successful in the 21st-century interconnected world.”

As part of the conference, student leaders from a variety of universities participated in the GSLS. This was an opportunity for students to share their global experiences and to develop awareness of diversity and inclusion in relation to global leadership. The goal of the summit was to empower these student participants to return to their respective campuses to share their takeaways and make an impact. 

ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ’s participation in this conference was co-sponsored by the GEC and Brooke Barnett, associate provost of academic and inclusive excellence. Barnett explained that this is important work when looking to create equitable and inclusive practices across campus.

“We want to reduce barriers to study abroad and to help students have the best experiences when abroad,” Barnett said. “The summit provided opportunities for students and colleagues to learn more and take an active role in making study abroad possible and more meaningful for our students.”

One of the ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ students who attended the conference was participant Jasmine Hodges. “The GSLS truly empowered me by giving me space to honestly reflect on my experience abroad in relation to my identities,” Hodges said. “One of my biggest takeaways will be applying the role of my identity and my story to my leadership and the way I view my future.” 

Erika Swinney, who has studied in China and Ghana during winter term courses, said her take away from the summit was “no matter the places that you studied abroad, the experience that you had leads you to a much better idea and thinking about what you want to do in life.”

The goal of the summit is for campus leaders to share their experiences and to empower these students to return to campus where they can make an impact by sharing their takeaways in regards to diversity and global leadership. 

“There are significant barriers to accessing international study abroad experience for students of color and many other individuals with marginalized identities,” said Jazmine Langley, and ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ student who studied in Cape Town, South Africa. “Sharing my story of how I accomplished this can help mend this gap to access and minimize some of the misconceptions marginalized people have about this opportunity.

“The GSLS gave me skills to articulate and leverage my international experience so much more effectively on campus and in the professional world as I enter the phase of considering post-graduation opportunities,” said Langley. 

Marta Djalleta, who studied in Senegal, said what she found most memorable from the summit was the keynote speaker, Saif Ishoof, who is vice president for engagement at Florida International University. Ishoof shared a quote from 14th-century Moroccan scholar Ibn Battuta: “Traveling- it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” 

“This quote reminded me of the responsibility that travelers have to not only explore these foreign places but also to share what we find within them,” said Djalleta.

​Elon’s Brandon Bell, the co-chair of the National Task Force on Race and Ethnicity, presented at the conference and came back with two pieces of meaningful insight. “Innovative partnerships between equity, diversity and inclusion offices and study abroad offices are integral in creating pathways to global experiences and diversifying the collegiate populations that go abroad,” said Bell. Bell also highlighted the importance of having diverse faculty and curriculum that speaks to a variety of experiences across and amongst social identities in supporting efforts to diversify global education at all levels. 

Shanna Van Beek, assistant director of study abroad, co-presented at the conference. She and Angela Broyles of Semester at Sea presented “Inclusive Marketing: Interrogating our Narratives for Truth, Justice, and Power,” which was a discussion of the importance of ethical representation and practices in global education outreach.

Allegra Laing, study abroad coordinator, provided the energy behind ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ’s engagement in the conference. Laing notes that it is important for education abroad offices to examine how they approach access and inclusion beyond recruiting efforts. “Education abroad offices need to consider how to cultivate advising practices that are inclusive from the moment a student enters their offices through the re-entry process,” said Laing. “Providing identity-based resources for students studying abroad plays a critical role in supporting students.”