Analise Herrera, student assistant for the Center for Mexican American Studies, right, educates architectural engineering freshman Dannika Ralph about study abroad programs during the Study Abroad Fair on Sept. 22 in the upstairs lounge of the Maverick Activities Center. Ralph said she was interested in learning about different cultures.
Students gathered at the upstairs lounge of the Maverick Activities Center on Tuesday for the fall semester Study Abroad Fair.
Booths lined the room as music played to the sound of learning. Study Abroad director Jason Kouba said the event is meant to serve as a one-stop shop for students to learn about study abroad opportunities.
Those opportunities included destinations all over the world. Faculty-led trips included psychology in Italy, business in South Korea and computer science and English in the United Kingdom.
Rachel Baldridge, associate professor of instruction in psychology, is leading the psychology in Italy trip for a third year. Baldridge said the trip to Italy is for two weeks in the summer, and students will visit Rome, Sorrento and other areas like Pompeii and the Vatican City.
Attendees look around during the Study Abroad Fair on Sept. 22 in the upstairs lounge of the Maverick Activities Center. Attendees learned about study abroad programs and scholarship opportunities.
She said that when she was in college she had the opportunity to do a study abroad trip to Spain, which spurred her interest in developing a program herself when she began teaching.
“When I became full time here at UTA, I learned about the opportunity to develop the program and lead it and thought it would be really amazing to give that experience to students,” Baldridge said.
Psychology freshman Omar Ali said he saw the fair when he came into the gym and decided to check out the event.
Ali said the opportunities really interested him. He said he did not know the university offered so many study abroad trips and wanted to learn about them.
Attendees stand at booths during the Study Abroad Fair on Sept. 22 in the upstairs lounge of the Maverick Activities Center. Free drinks and food were provided.
“There’s a lot of diversity,” Ali said.
Psychology junior Rose Neeley said she visited the fair so she could try to go on a trip this summer. Neeley said she tried to do a trip this past summer, but it didn’t work out.
With all of the booths present, she said it was nice to have them all in-person to hear people talk about the opportunities they were presenting.
Students can go onto the Office of International Education website to learn more about the study abroad opportunities.
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