Studying abroad with ISEP in the United Arab Emirates was a once in a lifetime experience because I was able to affordably explore my interests in ways that wouldn't have been possible at my home university. I made a number of meaningful connections and friendships with international students, including one classmate who is an Emirati prince. The affordability of ISEP allowed me to travel throughout the region during my breaks. One of the countries I visited was Lebanon, the place of my family's heritage. I felt a deep connection to Lebanon and the Middle East region in general. My experience and the courses I was able to take helped shape my career goals of working in the international education field.

Join ISEP Alumni Crockett Sewell as we help you break into international education in this month's webinar!

Simone Dreher just finished her first international semester at Philipps-Universität Marburg from Louisiana State and will start the second half of her full year in January. With a chronic mobility accessibility issue, she has faced challenges in her life.

Her time abroad was challenging too, but she says, “I’m very glad I came. It’s been incredible. My studies tie directly to my interest in anthropology and health policy”

As an ISEP Community Scholarship winner, she knows first-hand the difference that an ISEP Scholarship can make, “It’s unbelievable how big of a difference studying abroad can make in your life. And you get the opportunity to study abroad, you can see differences in accessibility. That’s an opportunity I wouldn’t have had to see that. Giving the opportunity for students to see the future is very important.  ISEP’s scholarships are a major part of that opportunity.”

Sarouche Razi studied in Ghana in 2004 from his home institution, Macquarie University in Australia. He was the guest speaker at ISEP’s inaugural Australian Alumni event in October 2018. He’s a principal lawyer at Westjustice, a pro bono lawyer with Kimberley Community Legal Centre and teaches the Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice at the ANU.

Previously, Sarouche was the Principal at Kimberley Community Legal Services, a community legal organisation based in the Kimberley. He acted as counsel in an inquest looking at the deaths of young Aboriginal people in the Kimberley, collaborated on a partnership with the ANU, and was involved in advocacy against income management. He has also worked at the Aboriginal Legal Services of Western Australia, working on a number of significant coronial inquests exposed structural racism, torts against the state, police and prison accountability, and also worked in an indigenous family violence legal service.

After his time in Ghana, he undertook at Master’s Degree in International Law in Mexico, and completed study in Strasbourg (France), Alcalá (Spain) and Boston.

He says, “My time in Ghana definitely led to my career, but it also changed my life. My sister married someone from my Ghana program and the experience opened the world to me. I still love learning languages.”

Bone Masala is finishing her finance degree at the university of Botswana and studied in the US at East Carolina in 2017.

“Going on exchange has helped me broaden my thinking and that’s what most employers are looking for. Also, just the fact that I have it on my resume has given me an upper hand as compared to other people. Most employers seem to be interested on my time in the US because they ask a lot about it during interviews.”

Within a few weeks of reaching out to the alumni association, Bone was happy to report success in her job search.

“I just wanted to let you know that I have found a job as a financial analyst trainee with some local company. I start beginning of November. I wanted to thank you for the advice and support you gave me, it really went a long way.”

When Katelyn (Indiana State University to Ewha Women’s University 2017) discusses her time interning at the Ewha University’s Brain Institute, you can hear the excitement in her voice. “The lab I worked in offered me a full-time position and I miss living there.” Korea is a great place for students with STEM backgrounds like Katelyn to intern. “I’m a biology and psychology major, but I’m also a writing consultant at Indiana state University and a research assistant at Purdue University’s cognitive research lab. And my time in Korea really prepared me to work at my research lab.” Women in Stem careers are under-represented, but Ewha presents a unique opportunity to get science and engineering experience in a foreign country, and as Katelyn’s experience shows, have a valuable internship. As she finishes her degree and considers her options, she considers her time on ISEP’s program to be extremely valuable and she remembers her time fondly: “I would love to go back to Korea.”

Crockett Sewell (Queens University to Vesallius University 2015) interned at the Fulbright Commission to Belgium and Luxembourg while he studied in Brussels. The opportunity changed his life. After he graduated from Queens University in Charlotte, NC he moved to Washington DC, for an internship in international education. He then got his masters at the University of Cardiff in International Public Relations and Global Communications Management and got a job as an international admissions counselor at Purdue University.

He remembers considering internships in Brussels, “That could be cool, I think I’ll apply for it.” He laughs as he says, “That absolutely changed my career trajectory 100%. As an intern I got to be an EducationUSA Advisor. I was working with Fulbright grantees in Belgium. I think what I enjoyed most was going to Belgian high schools about coming to the US. I don’t know the exact moment it happened, but I just realized that it was the type of work I wanted to be doing.” His time on an ISEP program helped him do that.

Virginia studied abroad at Thammasat University in Bangkok, Thailand in 2016. Her study abroad experience shaped her academic goals by offering her courses that fit her interests:

“Studying abroad with ISEP Thailand really gave me an opportunity to study Islam in a different cultural context than the states that further enriched my religious studies experiences and well as my thesis work on Islam and Islamophobia.”

Virginia also participated in ISEP’s Intern Abroad program. She interned for an organization called Boat People SOS which is a humanitarian law firm working with refugees in Bangkok. The internship was especially meaningful in shaping her career goals:

“This experience solidified my desire to work in the humanitarian field and helped me focus my career goals on working with refugee communities.”

Virginia graduated from Maryville College in 2017 with a B.A. in Counseling Psychology. Her first position after graduation was working with the Americorps. Now, Virginia works as a Rural Education Development Teacher for the Peace Corps in Zambia. This is fulfilling a dream Virginia has had for many years. She is currently serving in this role and expresses the impact that ISEP has made on her life:

“I am certain to that my internship experience abroad, and my study abroad experience generally, helped me to achieve my current role as a peace corps volunteer in Zambia.”

Bernadette is on a mission to reach her dreams. These dreams have been deeply shaped by her ISEP experience. Bernadette first studied abroad with ISEP in 2013 at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga from Technische Universitat Graz, where she studied from 2010-2014. Her focus was on Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering, Classical Piano, Spanish, and Psychology. She participated in the Privateer Yacht Club, International Exchange Group, and tutored the German language. She earned her a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Audio Engineering, graduating with distinction. She obtained a master’s and worked at BMW as an acoustic engineer.

Today, though, Bernadette has left everything behind and is following her passions of traveling and composing. She is currently sailing around the world and playing her piano. The biggest reason for the way her life is unfolding reflects to her ISEP experience. She is always dreaming of new adventures and living her life to the most of her abilities.

“My ISEP experience was the best I have ever had and it led me to great opportunities and personal growth. I realized that I never want to stop learning, traveling and exploring this wonderful planet with all the different and great people out there. I am beyond thankful about what I've learned and it still shapes my mindset and actions today.”

“As an ISEP Study Abroad alumni I am still thinking about the great experience abroad and also after my studies I continue to travel, explore the world and enjoy every journey to the fullest. I am convinced that my ISEP experience made a great impact on how I see this world and how I connect to people. Even though there might be of difficulties on the way... Go out and explore!!!”

Visit https://sailingfoxes.com to follow Bernadette’s sailing adventure.

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