Message from the SAO Executive Director
A message from the SAO Executive Director Heading link
Dear Flame,
I want to congratulate you because if you are reading this then it means you have taken a step toward adding an international education experience to your UIC studies. With only about 6% of all U.S. undergraduates studying abroad, this is an important step in helping you to enhance your studies and prepare for life and work in our global society.
Beyond the individual rewards and benefits that can accompany a study abroad experience, why does study abroad matter now?
In just three short years of this new decade, we have seen how fragile and intimately connected our global society is. With a rapidly deteriorating planet, ongoing attacks against human rights and dignity for all, a global pandemic, and growing wars, the need for cultural exchange is as critical to our collective well-being and future as ever.
I’m reminded of a speech that the former First Lady, Michelle Obama, delivered in 2011 at Howard University. She acknowledged the power that study abroad has in tackling the most pressing issues of our time. As she remarked,
“…it is so important for more of our young people to live and study in each other’s countries. That’s how, student by student, we develop that habit of cooperation, by immersing yourself in someone else’s culture, by sharing your stories and letting them share theirs, by taking the time to get past the stereotypes and misperceptions that too often divide us.”
Regardless of identity, background, religion, and politics, when we push ourselves beyond what is familiar to us and embrace a mindset of curiosity and openness, we increase the opportunity for compassion, empathy, and kindness to inform our understanding of the world and the challenging contexts that serve as the backdrop to the issues our planet faces. When you break bread with a person from a different background and take the time to genuinely listen and understand their perspectives and lived experiences, it becomes harder to view that individual as an enemy, antagonist, or lesser being. Instead, you begin to recognize the humanity in us all and develop a more nuanced appreciation for the complexities of coexisting in a world with limited resources and systemic barriers that create an imbalance of power and privilege.
To me, this is the core reason to study abroad. To challenge yourself to see life from another’s perspective and use the knowledge gained to inform your attempts to make the world a better place.
It is in this spirit that I emphasize that the work we do in the UIC Study Abroad Office is for ALL students and is in opposition to the attempts by individuals’ political predilections to determine what is or isn’t a valid or valuable experience. We can learn something from anywhere to which we travel and from anyone with whom we interact…we just have to be open to these processes.
I hope you will leverage the experience and passion that the Study Abroad Office team has in helping you on your journey. Together, we can make the world a better place, one study abroad student at a time.
Sincerely,
Kyle Rausch, EdD
Executive Director
Study Abroad Office
University of Illinois Chicago
January 24th, 2024