The David and Leighan Rinker Center for International Learning
International students stopped by WORLD on October 26 to sharpen their pumpkin-carving skills. See below for some of the creative faces. If you have any additional photos we can add, please send them to Liz Lew [email protected]
WORLD is excited to host our upcoming Lessons from Abroad Conference on Friday, March 31, 2023 from 11am-3pm in Brown Hall. During this inaugural conference, study abroad and international students will reflect on the impact of learning abroad and global citizenship experiences through engagement with new cultures. Students will present their reflections and invite discussion. We welcome you to join us!
During a time of chaos, uncertainty, and an upheaval from the norm, the WORLD team continued to push through all obstacles by continuing to offer the best service to our Stetson community. This year, the WORLD Center staff and student employees were recognized for all their hard work.
During Stetson Annual Employee Recognition Award Ceremony, Paula Hentz received the P.A.R. Award which is given to an individual who embodies the three characteristics of professionalism, attitude, and reliability. Her nominator said that during this tumultuous year for international education, Paula “navigated the roller coaster of activity related to the pandemic from carefully building programs to seeing them come to a screeching halt, evacuating students across the globe, border restrictions, political battles, ICE complications, and other global dynamics that threaten international diplomacies and relationships that the WORLD Center worked for many, many years to build.” Paula is a consummate professional and has managed the delicate balance between family life while maintaining the strictest codes of professionalism while attending to her core work responsibilities. “No matter the situation, Paula remains poised, exuding the essence of calm competence so critical to the work of higher education,” said her nominator. Our Center is incredibly honored to work with an incredible leader who has helped our office come out of one of the most difficult times for our field. Paula was also nominated for the Morale Builder of the Year.
The Spirit of Stetson is awarded monthly to a member of the Stetson community who dedicates themselves every day to do a job well done. Roxanne received the award in January for all the incredible work she accomplished with our international student population. The Quality of Service Council recognized the incredible challenges she faced with the ever-changing landscape of immigration laws, changes for a virtual orientation, and the relationships she builds with our students. Her nominator also mentioned that Roxanne is an incredible member of the community and cares deeply for others. During the pandemic, Roxanne regularly reached out to colleagues to check in and see how they were doing. Her empathy and care embodies the Spirit of Stetson. Also, this year at the Employee Recognition Awards event, Roxanne was nominated for the Go Beyond Award for her work with our international students. She successfully worked with Grants, Development, and Financial Aid to find financial support for our students who were unable to support themselves due to the pandemic and/or political and social unrest at home. In addition, Roxanne was a part of a group of faculty and staff to receive recognition during the yearly Top Hatter Awards as a First-Year Advocate.
Morgan worked tirelessly from the start of the pandemic assisting the WORLD office in processing refund requests for all the canceled study abroad programs. After the university went entirely virtual, Morgan created a biweekly student-driven program called the Virtual Culture Hour. The series, which continued through the 20/21 academic year, highlighted a different country or region of the world where our international or study abroad students would share the history, culture, misconceptions, brief language lesson, cooking demonstration, and a fun trivia game. Morgan also worked hard throughout the year to update the outdated WORLD websites and make them more visually appealing and easier to navigate. She also assisted in the creation and implementation of our Virtual Study Abroad Fair which we offered 3 times during the year. Morgan is graduating this upcoming weekend and we will miss her professionalism and productivity at the WORLD Center.
As the Clerical Assistant, Anh Nguyen, works closely with her supervisor, Roxanne Lewis, by designing posters, creating presentations, planning events, managing email communications, and helping fellow international students with the management of their residency status. Anh initially began working with WORLD as a WORLD Ambassador as a member of the Social Committee. She has always had the goal of assisting international students and make them feel at home at Stetson. From the moment she first entered the WORLD building, she knew she wanted to work there and help her fellow classmates. She loves being able to learn new skills that she can apply to all areas of her work and education. Not only is Anh a WORLD student employee, but she is also a Resident Assistant (RA), Vice President of APAC (Asian Pacific American Coalition), and a full-time International Business major.
Anh also was the recipient of the Stetson Values Leader Award for Global Citizenship during the Top Hatter Annual Award Ceremony. The award is given to one outstanding Stetson student that has demonstrated a commitment to Stetson’s Value of Global Citizenship in their involvements, leadership, and contributions to the community.
WORLD is fortunate to give the spotlight to another hardworking and ambitious alumnus from Stetson. This time WORLD is featuring Anirudh Bhatnagar – a Stetson alumnus from India who graduated from the university in Spring 2018 with a degree of BSc Physics. After graduation, Anirudh was accepted to the University of Copenhagen to complete his master’s degree with the major of Quantum Physics. His expected graduation date from the University of Copenhagen is Spring 2023.
Anirudh talked to us about his time at Stetson – his favorite moments, the challenges he faced, and advice he could give to the current international Hatters. His favorite thing at Stetson was the close-knit and diverse community in which he was able to meet people from different backgrounds and with different passions. He met his best friends at Stetson, who he has stayed in touch with even after his graduation.
Anirudh’s advice to the current international students is to not fear making mistakes. He says “It is only natural to slip up and mess up at times…”
Anirudh Bhatnagar
Although Anirudh recalls his time in the U.S. and Stetson as one of his favorite periods, it did not pass without difficulties. The biggest challenge for him as an international Hatter was constantly dealing with accidental mess-ups. He says that every year, something had gone wrong. However, the WORLD office and Roxanne Lewis were always supportive of him and managed to help him fix whatever came up. With this being said, Anirudh’s advice to the current international students is to not fear making mistakes. He says that it is only natural to slip up and mess up at times because studying abroad and adapting to a new culture and ways of living is a challenging process.
Anirudh is currently in India, getting ready for his departure to Denmark in a few months to start his master’s degree. He told us about his employment experiences after graduation. He worked at two jobs – one in the U.S. and the other in his home country India. His first job upon graduation was at an Aerospace company called Satcom Direct as a technical analyst in Florida. Returning to his home country where he had not been for almost a decade, Anirudh started working at the Indian Institute of Technology as a Research Associate. In this position, he worked on developing theories on various projects. He is grateful for both of these experiences as they had helped him improve himself and solidify his topic of interest for his further studies as a graduate student.
Anirudh recalls his time at Stetson with much gratitude and believes that becoming a Hatter was one of the best decisions he had ever made.
Written by Ani Martikyan and Anirudh Bhatnagar
By Camila Morales Hernandez, ’20
Over the summer, the Stetson students, Sydney Arrington, a Public Health major/Spanish minor, Peter Gruebel, also a Public Health major; and Matinicus C’Senger, double major in Economics and Philosophy and an Environmental Sustainability Fellow at Stetson, did a summer internship with AIR (Alliance for International Reforestation, Inc) Guatemala. During the experience, the students were able to work closely with local farmers to learn the practice of Regenerative Farming. The students also spoke Spanish during the entire time of the experience.
WHAT IS AIR GUATEMALA?
AIR is a non-profit organization improving human and environmental health in Guatemala. With operations in Atlanta, Georgia and central Guatemala, AIR has trained over 4,000 farm families and planted almost 6 million native trees in Guatemala. For over 25 years, AIR has implemented a community-based, five-year approach with great results and success. AIR is a winner of the 2017 Equator Prize from the UN Environment Programme because of this successful model. All salaried employees are local professionals, so ninety-two percent of funds and donations go straight to the field to implement projects and programs: Rural school programs; tree nurseries; farmer training; and efficient, custom stoves. AIR was founded in 1992 at Stetson University after Dr. Anne Hallum, Stetson University political professor, visited Guatemala for the first time and observed first hand the rural hunger and malnutrition, the barren mountainsides and mudslides, and the strength of the Maya people.
GOALS, PROCESS AND ACADEMIC PURSUITS:
Each year, one to three Stetson students are selected to participate in the AIR Guatemala internship program. All of their program expenses are covered by a generous endowment by Drs. David and Leighan Rinker. The main goal of the internship is for the student to provide tangible benefits to the local residents. Likewise, the experience is designed to align with the academic pursuits of the students.
Learning goals for the student interns include:
FOOTPRINT LEFT IN GUATEMALA
The three students supported the construction of three fuel-efficient stoves which involved mixing cement, soaking and laying bricks—each stove required six-hours of work. The stoves have a chimney to ventilate smoke and prevent lung diseases; they also help to conserve trees.
The volunteers this summer—including the three students—planted approximately 2,000 trees. The trees were strategically located to prevent soil erosion and improve crops with nitrogen-fixing roots; prevent mudslides, and to protect water sources. As previously mentioned, the students taught AIR staff members and Dr. Hallum how to use the technology for photographing and syncing each tree. By the end of the two weeks, the team had registered and sold 886 trees to a company in Hong Kong.
The three students also participated in two rural school programs—helping to judge environmental contests and playing with children.
THE ADVENTURE DOES NOT STOP THERE!!
Apply to join this journey and work with Guatemalan communities in Summer 2020!!! Applications are due by February 1, 2020.
This article was written based on Dr. Anne Hallum’s annual Air Guatemala report.
By Camila Morales ’20
On Friday, October 18, I had the honor of giving a presentation to Stetson’s University Board of Trustees about my previous internships and the impact they have had in my professional life. This article is about the most recent one I had this 2019 summer in the United Nations Institute for Training and Research New York Office (UNITAR NYO).
I had the honor to work under the supervision of H.E. Ambassador Marco Suazo, UNITAR-NYO head of office ambassador, and Mr. Pelayo Alvarez, programme coordinator. Both of them served as invaluable mentors during this journey. I also worked alongside with remarkable young professionals, who I am happy to call my colleagues. UNITAR is a training arm of the United Nations, whose mission is to develop capacities to enhance global decision-making and to support country-level action for shaping a better future. The organization provides training and capacity development projects to assist mainly members of the least developed countries. In my time here I gained experience in finances and multilateral diplomacy.
UNITAR allowed me to work in tasks that enhanced my two areas of studies: finances and world languages and cultures. I was able to hone my financial skills by presenting the project and budget proposals to members of the Permanent Missions to the United Nations and other organizations. Likewise, I was able to strengthen my technical skills by administering the underground finances and by developing the finance and statistics sections of the Midterm Summary Report.
During the internship, I assisted the office by supporting the logistics and program management to meet and work alongside mission representatives such as ambassadors and diplomats. I also supported developing and leading projects that equipped members of the diplomatic community with the capacity to contribute to the United Nations deliberative process and policy-making.
The most remarkable thing about my internship was the mentorship I received from my supervisors and my colleagues.
The UNITAR-New York Office team would always promote collaboration and professionalism. We were incentivized to take part in learning more about the United Nations and its projects. For example, I had the opportunity to attend the elections of the 74th President of the General Assembly, and the meetings of the Security Council. The UNITAR-New York Office also allowed interns to take part in the organization and the implementation of the UNITAR Economic and Social Council resolution.
We were invited to attend bilateral meetings among high officials of the United Nations. Additionally, we had the opportunity to manage and develop capacity building events which were co-organized by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Division for Sustainable Development Goals and UNITAR for the SDGs Learning, Training and Practice Center during the High-Level Political Forum.
The professional background I acquired in UNITAR was exceptional, but the unique opportunity to be directly exposed to the United Nations system I experienced in UNITAR was invaluable. This is a chapter in my life I will forever treasure.
Camila Morales,’20, is a security analyst in the Roland George Investments Program at Stetson University. Morales, a senior finance major, works at WORLD: Rinker Center for International Learning.
UNITAR supports governments to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
This article originally printed in LinkedIn and published at Stetson Today.
Join WORLD and the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life to celebrate the United Nations International Day of Peace.
Join us today, Sept. 18 from 11:30 a.m.-12:50 p.m., in the Conrad Hall Lounge for conversations over lunch on the following topics:
Moe’s and Cultural Credit will be provided.
The theme draws attention to the importance of combatting climate change as a way to protect and promote peace throughout the world.
Each year the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on September 21. The General Assembly has declared this as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples.
