One Partnership Circle
Abingdon, VA 24210
PH: (276) 619-4374
Fax: (276) 619-4309
|
 |
 |
|
Study Virginia, USA |
|
| Welcome
International Students!
Use this Website
to gather information about Southwest Virginia colleges,
universities, community colleges, and trade and technical
schools in the state of Virginia, USA.
www.studyvirginia.org
UVa-Wise signs exchange
pact with Mexican university
Published 10/31/2006 By
STEPHEN IGO
WISE - The University of
Virginia's College at Wise inked a student exchange
agreement with a branch of a Mexican university during
formal signing ceremonies at the campus Chapel of All
Faiths on Tuesday.
Students on both sides of
the border will pay tuition at their home colleges but
spend a semester or more at each other's campus,
learning as much or more about a different culture and
societies as well as the usual classroom fare.
UVa-Wise Field Director of
International Programs Witold Wolny said the pact with
El Tec de Monterrey (Monterrey Tech) Campus Saltillo "is
about building bridges between universities" and is one
more link forged between UVa-Wise and other institutions
of higher learning abroad. The college has similar
agreements with the University of Istanbul in Turkey,
the University of Huelva and Fundacion San Pablo
Andalucia CEU "Cardenal Spinola," both in Spain, and the
Padagogische Akademie Baden near Vienna, Austria.
UVa-Wise Chancellor David
J. Prior said providing opportunities abroad for
students "is the crown jewel" of higher education.
Monterrey Tech's Saltillo campus (located in the
northwestern sector of Mexico about a 45-minute drive
from the main campus in Monterrey) is one of 33 branch
sites operated by the university. Prior said the
Saltillo campus has some things in common with UVa-Wise,
including a 1,500 student population compared to nearly
2,000 at UVa-Wise, and Saltillo's location in a coal
mining region of Mexico.
El Tec de Monterrey
Saltillo Campus Director Juan Manuel Ruiz Acosta said he
hoped the agreement would enable UVa-Wise students to
enjoy the broad range of Mexican culture. Acosta was
pretty sure Monterrey Tech students would like it in
Wise.
"I like very much the
environment here," he told an appreciative crowd in the
chapel.
He said the pace of life
in Wise County was "very slow" compared to the Monterrey
region that Acosta indicated is rather hectic and
apparently fairly densely populated.
"Very different here, the
trees, it's beautiful, your place," Acosta said.
El Tec de Monterrey's 33
branches are sprinkled from one end of Mexico to the
other, from Ciudad Juarez at the U.S. border in the
north to Chiapas near the border with Guatemala in the
south. Total student population of El Tec de Monterrey
at all branch locations approaches 100,000, Acosta said.
George Hiller, the
director of international business and education at the
Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center in Abingdon
who helped arrange the pact between the two
institutions, told Acosta and Sandra Vergara Muniz,
Monterrey Tech's coordinator of international programs,
the agreement is good for American students "because you
are our neighbors and it is very, very important (for
college graduates) to have a better understanding of
Mexico."
"This is a friendship as
well as a technical partnership," Prior said of the new
relationship between UVa-Wise and El Tec de Monterrey.
|
|
Latest News From
Emory & Henry
Focus on the Future: Javier Soriano
May 4, 2005 -- In this country, dozens of small
colleges claim that they offer quality academic programs and
excellent professors who work closely with students. So the benefits
of a small college may be taken for granted by many students in the
United States.
But for an international student whose home may be a continent away,
these qualities make a world of difference.
"Emory & Henry changes lives," said Javier Soriano, a graduating E&H
senior from Bolivia. "In my case, that's especially true, mostly
because I've been here on my own, far away from my family. I'm a
very different person from what I was when I came here four years
ago. This place has totally changed who I am and what I want to
accomplish."
Emory & Henry provides a "great" environment for the international
student because the advantages that most small colleges tout are
particularly true of this place, Soriano said. "This college has
been a very good place for me, and the people here are like my
family; it has definitely become my second home."
His fellow students speak highly of Soriano. "I'm always impressed
by how outgoing and friendly Javi is. Just about everyone on campus
knows him," said senior Will Reisinger. "He fits in well with
everyone."
He also is a very serious student, according to Dr. Linda Dobkins,
E&H economics professor. "Even if other students are casual about
what they are learning, Javi stays on task."
He brings a broad world view to the classroom, "in particular a view
of poverty that American students don't see," Dobkins said. "He is
aware of cultural differences and articulate in explaining them."
According to Soriano, a key ingredient to the college's
life-changing abilities is its emphasis on action and service. The
international business and economics double major spent much of his
four years engaged in service activities as a Bonner Scholar. During
his college career, he served Rivers Way, tutored in the English as
a Second Language program, helped out at the Meadowview Head Start
facility, and assisted Big Creek People in Action with providing
flood relief in West Virginia.
In addition, he served as a residential advisor for three years
(including one year as a head RA), was a member of Blue Key Honor
Society for two years (including one year as vice president), served
as a student government senator for one year and played soccer for
one year.
"I did a lot of volunteer work back home, but not nearly at the
level that I have performed here," Soriano said. "Emory & Henry's
sense of community has taught me the importance of service and the
difference you can make."
And for the international student, that active environment has a
daily, practical function. "Getting involved, staying busy helped me
to not think so much about home, and it creates this culture that
says, 'This is my family; this is where I belong.'"
Soriano first came to America as an exchange student at nearby
Abingdon High School sponsored by the Abingdon Rotary Club. He was
introduced to Emory & Henry by one of his host parents, Mark Graham,
a member of the E&H Class of 1985. While Soriano attended Abingdon
High School, Graham and his wife, Tonya, shared host-family
responsibilities with Jill and Robin Smeltzer. Jill has since become
director of counseling services at the college.
Soriano said he was fortunate to have the Grahams and the Smeltzers
living nearby. They provided him with advice, emotional support and
a place to go on holidays when campus housing was shut down.
His positive experiences at Emory & Henry have led him to reflect on
what Emory & Henry might do to draw a greater population of
international students. His main suggestion is the creation of an
international student advisor, who can give special attention to the
needs of international students, helping mainly to deal with the
daily challenges of living in a new environment and coping with life
far away from home.
Soriano dreams of one day owning his own import-export business,
maintaining a foothold in the United States while contributing to
the economy of his home country. "Whatever I do, I plan to continue
serving in Bolivia. My country needs help, and there's a lot of
service to be done there."
He has discovered the hope that comes through service, which is a
large part of the tremendous change he has undergone at Emory &
Henry. "I've learned that good things are possible, and I believe
that I can be a part of making that happen."
|
