By Kaye Nelson
We are a mobile society. Just a few decades ago the only people traveling seemed to be business people and vacationers. Now we go to every corner of the earth for varied reasons. For BYU students one of those reasons is to study abroad. BYU has one of the most amazing programs for students to leave the comforts and niceties of home to travel to unknown places, eat exotic foods and learn the traditions and customs of a new land, all while providing some kind of service to or studying their newly adopted community.
Study Abroad students pick their areas of study, work for months to learn a new language, make and sometimes even pay for their arrangements to go abroad, take classes to help them understand customs and environments, fill out paperwork, get shots and assure their parents they?ll be OK living in another country for several months. The excitement level reaches fever pitch as students stuff backpacks with few essentials to get them through those months away.
For the first time, The Daily Universe will have Study Abroad students serve as foreign correspondents reporting in from around the globe. Students have been asked to report on travel conditions, first impressions, food, culture and out-of-the-ordinary experiences as they live in India, Romania, Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, South Africa, Bolivia and other countries. We?ll also have interns reporting from New York and Chicago.
Around 20 students have signed up as foreign correspondents to keep us updated on anything going on in their area. This might prove difficult for some who don?t have ready access to computers or e-mail but, come rain or shine, these students are determined to deliver.
If you?re reading this from some exciting foreign spot in the world, and have access to e-mail, consider yourself invited to send us your glimpses into what you?ll be doing as well.
So for the next 14 weeks or so, enjoy the writings of your fellow students as they explore and come to love a new area of the world.
Chelsea Brothers wrote 10 days before she was due to leave April 26. Her article will appear in this column May 3 with more to follow from Chelsea, Andrea, Dustin, Nick and all other eager correspondents. Good luck students and God be with you and all correspondents.