International experience makes student ‘better teacher, better human’
Speaking a new Spanish language dialect in Chile. Learning organic farming techniques at a vineyard in Sicily. Experiencing Irish history by hiking the Cliffs of Moher. Even as many study-abroad sites canceled programs last year amid the pandemic, Linfield students nonetheless managed all this (and more) in the 2021-22 academic year.
Siria Larmay ’21, a mathematics and elementary education major from McMinnville via Guatemala, was eager to immerse herself in another culture.
“I wanted to study abroad to learn about another educational system and culture,” she said. “I believed this would not only make me a better teacher but a better human.”
And, thanks to financial support from the International Programs Study Abroad Scholarship and other donor-supported endowed funds, Larmay was able to make her dream come true.
Larmay was among the 25 Linfield students who studied internationally during the fall 2021 semester. It was the first cohort of students to return abroad since March 2020.
Linfield offers all students the opportunity to study abroad with semester, January Term and year-long programs at 15 universities across the globe. Linfield makes this opportunity as affordable as possible for all students by paying for round-trip airfare for each student’s first experience abroad. Even so, additional expenses associated with study abroad can present a hardship. Donor support allows for additional financial aid to make these experiences possible.
“The financial support I received from Linfield gave me peace of mind financially,” Larmay said of her experience at the National University of Ireland-Galway. “It allowed me to focus on my new experience and maximize my learning opportunities.”
Larmay has already seen the positive effects of her experience and how she, a non-traditional college graduate, can better relate to her students at McMinnville High School.
“Going to school with younger people from different cultures gave me an opportunity to relate to them as peers. This has benefitted my interactions with my students and how I connect and build relationships with them,” she said. “I have also already implemented some educational strategies I learned in Ireland.”
