Study U.S. before going abroad

The recent wave of students who studied abroad this summer has returned home and has now readjusted to life on campus. Those students return with suitcases full of souvenirs, a lifetime of memories and a hard drive full of pictures.

After talking to many of my own friends, I've heard one comment come up time and again: the people of other countries can't stop asking about life in the United States.

Whether it's questions about American politics, inquiries about hometown life, talks about American sports, interstates, the internet, plumbing, blue jeans, religion, the English language, economics, movie stars, terrorism, tornados, Mark Twain, farming.

As a study abroad student, you will be the official representative of anything and everything American.

The question I ask is this: Do most students have a comprehensive understanding of this country?

Personally I answer no to that question. Just as people from the Atlanta area may be ignorant of what life is like in a small-town in the Midwest, I am ignorant of most regional cultures around the country.

The skirmishes I've seen between a friend from up-state New York and another friend from central Alabama highlight just how diverse the people of the United States are.

We live in a country that rivials the size of Europe and is renowned as being a melting pot of all cultures.

For someone to learn all of the intricacies of the United States requires intense travel and instruction in an academic setting-two things that the study abroad programs do very well.

That is why I would like to see a new study abroad program created, not one that ships kids off to a different hemisphere, but one that indeed explores our own country.

The program would fit in well with the Office of International Education's (OIE) mission statement to advocate programs of study that prepare students to be globally competent.

Before students can truly understand another country, they must first understand their own. As Socrates implored, "Know thyself."

I find it unacceptable that a student would cross the English Channel before crossing the Mississippi, that a student would explore the Swiss Alps without seeing the Colorado Rockies or that a student walk the streets of Beijing without strolling through avenues of Washington D.C.

This new OIE program could be perfectly tailored to freshmen. After completing the first two semesters of college, most first-years aren't comfortable spending the summer in a foreign land. But spending the summer months exploring the United States is a reasonable alternative.

Maybe the program's motto would be, "See U.S. First." The knowledge the students would gain of their own country with the "See U.S. First" program would substantially enhance the experience of later study abroad programs they attend.

The course load of the "See U.S. First" program could easily be tailored to the freshman curriculum.

For English requirements, students could read Twain while traveling through the Mississippi Valley, Steinbeck while in California and so forth.

For history, students could be in Philadelphia, Boston, New York and Washington D.C. while learning about early American history.

Earth and Atmospheric Sciences classes could experience firsthand the climate and weather patterns they study in class.

For international students, the "See U.S. First" program would offer an excellent forum to see more of the United States than just the Atlanta area.

Upper level classes in geology, urban and regional economics and modern architecture, among others, could all be easily designed to a program that roams around the United States.

The "See U.S. First program", like the counterparts in foreign countries, could partner with other universities to provide students places to stay. Also, just as OIE partners with local residents and hotels in other countries, a similar system could be implemented in the United States.

As for travel plans, Amtrak offers discounts for all students, and Delta could be a natural ally.

A United States study program would enhance the study abroad experience for each student, and it would help complete an international education at Tech, because discovering your own nation is a prerequisite for discovering another nation.