Returned Students
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The Learning Abroad Center staff hopes your time abroad was challenging, interesting, educational, and fun. Your international experience doesn't have to end when you come back to the US. Get involved! Local and international activities can help you adjust to being back as well as help you integrate your time abroad into your academic life and long-term goals.

Learning Abroad Center Resources

Global Ambassadors Internship & Student Group
Interested in sharing your study abroad experience with other students? Looking for internationally focused events and organizations on campus and in the Twin Cities area? Then Global Ambassadors is for you! Join us as we plan fun and informative events throughout the semester. Download the membership form and return it to our office in 230 Heller Hall. Contact Arianna Austin for more information.

Classroom Visit Internship
Talk about your experience! Give 5–10 minute presentations on study abroad to undergraduate classes around campus. Interns visit 15 classes per semester. Work on your presentation skills, talk about your experience, and help others learn about study abroad! Contact Arianna Austin for more information.

Student Jobs at the Learning Abroad Center
Past participants like you are great resources for students interested in studying abroad. Various student positions and internship opportunities are available in student services and marketing. For available positions please check the Learning Abroad Center Employment and Internship Opportunities page or the University of MN Employment web site.

Returned Student Workshop: Market Your Experience Abroad
If you have recently returned from an overseas experience attend this workshop to define your experience abroad for employers (pdf), identify skills learned abroad, and articulate your experience on resumes and in interviews. Workshops are one hour and in groups of four or less. Bring a story about your experience abroad to share! To check dates and availability, contact gradadv@umn.edu.

Learning Abroad GLBTA Network
Are you a returned learning abroad student that wants to share your experiences of the country you were in? Are you interested in sharing about the queer culture in the country that you were studying in? Think about becoming a part of the Learning Abroad GLBTA Network! Contact Mike Grewe for more information.

Volunteer at Pre-Departure Orientation

Share your experiences with students as they prepare to go abroad! Students who have volunteered to be a past participant at a Learning Abroad Center orientation should review the Orientation Preparation for Past Participants page. International Students assisting with orientation should review the Orientation Preparation for International Students. Contact Arianna Austin for more information.

Submit Your Photos & Interviews
The Learning Abroad Center would love to see your group photos, you at your study abroad or internship site, pictures with your host family, and scenic shots! If you have a few special photos that could be used in Learning Abroad Center materials, please drop them off or mail them to the office. They can be returned to you after they have been scanned. In addition to participant photos, quotations from interviews are also used in our brochures, informational materials, and the Learning Abroad Center web site. If you are interested in sharing your overseas experiences in an interview, contact Brian Liesinger.

Serve as a Contact for Future Participants
Prospective participants are always interested in hearing about your experiences! Are you willing to share your contact information for students that are interested in learning more about the program that you participated in? Contact Arianna Austin for more information.

Go Abroad Again!
Other international opportunities await you! This time, choose an internship, do a research project, work abroad, teach abroad, or learn another language. The Learning Abroad Center invites you to browse through our catalog, extensive resource center, and web site.

University Wide Resources

ISSS Small World Coffee Hour
A relaxing environment to learn about other cultures and traditions from around the world. The office of International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) small world coffee hour events are free and take place every other Friday from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. ISSS Cross-Cultural Discussion GroupsInternational Student and Scholar Services organizes cross-cultural discussion groups consisting of international and U.S. students. Members of these groups meet once a week to share cross-cultural experiences, personal thoughts, and feelings in a relaxed atmosphere.

Student Jobs at the International Student & Scholar Services Office
Continue your international experience on the U of M campus. Join the office of InternationalStudent and Scholar Services! ISSS is looking for study abroad returnees to work with our international community on campus. Student positions are available each semester. Students with work-study award money are encouraged to apply. Call 612-626-7000 for more information.

Student Groups at the University
Join one of the many student groups on campus related to your personal, academic, or international interest.

Resources to Share Your Story

Students from all over the University are having great study abroad experiences. Check out their stories. You can also submit your story online to share your study abroad story with others.

The College of Liberal Arts has compiled a blog of past study abroad participants in health and sciences.

Transitions Abroad is a magazine, published six times a year, about travel and work abroad. Students are encouraged to write about their international experiences and submit them.

The magazine Abroad View is affiliated with Transitions Abroad but instead focuses on study abroad. They invite students to submit articles, and the editors are happy to read drafts. For submissions guidelines, visit their website and/or e-mail articles and ideas directly to editors@abroadviewmagazine.com.

Glimpse Magazine strives to foster progressive and intimate global understanding. Published in print and online, it features first-person articles written primarily by and for study abroad students.

Engage with the Wider Community

Have you returned from your learning abroad experience feeling that you have learned more about their host country than you know about your own? Has your time abroad made you more aware of social and environmental problems in the USA? Do you have a heightened commitment to making a difference in your own community? Are you eager to explore the link between the global and the local? Have you discovered the power of experiential learning? If you can answer yes to any of these questions, take advantage of the myriad of opportunities the University offers for community engagement within the Twin Cities or elsewhere in the USA.

The Minnesota Statewide Re-entry Conference is a great way to take your study abroad experience to the next level and discuss teaching, short-term working, graduate study, and volunteering abroad; international careers at home and abroad; resume writing and interview preparations sessions; travel writing and documenting your journey. Visit the conference website for more details and to register

Non-University of Minnesota students: Your own campus probably offers its own opportunities for community engagement. If you need help locating them, surf your institution's website or speak with an adviser.

Academics
Verify that your transcript has been received by the Learning Abroad Center. You must follow up with your advisers to apply your study abroad coursework to degree requirements.

 
Last modified on November 3, 2009