1.- Improve chances to find a better job:
The fact is that employers actively
look for people who have lived and studied abroad because of their
abilities to deal with other cultures and because these students know
how to adapt to situations outside their comfort zones. Employers
understand that if they need to send them to Chicago, New York, or even
Europe on a three week assignment, people who have lived abroad will
feel confident working in a different environment and will be able to
handle the situation without any difficulties. On the other hand,
they also know that employees who have never lived abroad are at a big
disadvantage in these situations. Therefore, students who study
abroad drastically improve their chances of getting a better job
(especially in an established Multinational company) compared to those
who have never left the USA.
2.- Have a good answer for tough Interview
questions:
When a student goes to an interview
during their senior year, the interviewer will most likely ask: "Why
should we hire you? What separates you from the other 200 people that we
interviewed from A&M, Texas, Baylor, Oklahoma, Rice, Houston, SMU, TCU
and even here at Texas Tech?"
The student can answer: "I have lived in another country for over a
month", "I have lived in Spain, traveled to Portugal and
Morocco and have the
ability to adapt to other cultures", "I have first-hand knowledge and
understanding of other cultures, of their food, differences in language,
appearance and personal habits", "I can travel outside my comfort zone
and can work efficiently in other places far away from home", "I have
encountered situations that are not common in the USA and have learned
to adapt and respond in effective ways."
3.- Get Scholarship money from Texas Tech:
Every time a student registers for a
semester at Texas Tech University, he/she contributes $4.00 to the Study
Abroad Scholarship fund. This is one of the few opportunities that
students (or parents) will have to take tuition money back. The
scholarships range from $500 to $2000. With some good coaching (from Dr.
Delgadillo) the student will have a better than 50-50 chance of
receiving a scholarship.
4.- Live in Texas Tech approved Housing with
food and laundry service included:
All students housed in Seville live
with Spanish families approved by Texas Tech University. These families
are carefully selected and screened so as to provide students with a
positive living and cultural experience. Food, laundry service, and
cleaning service are provided so students can spend 100% of their time
focusing on their studies and experiencing the culture and way of life
in Spain.
Students stay with families in groups of 2 or 3 and can request to stay
with one of their friends from Texas Tech.
5.- Take advantage of the Texas Tech Center in
Seville, Spain:
Classes will take place at the Texas
Tech University Center in Seville. It is equipped with wireless
internet, so students can keep in touch with their parents on a daily
basis via e-mail or Facebook.
6.- Meet other Red Raiders in Seville:
There will be many other Texas Tech
students in Seville. The TTU College of Business will send 30. The TTU Foreign Language Department will send 40 students to
study Spanish. There will also be TTU students from Architecture,
History, Engineering, and Mass Communications. Chances are that TTU business students
will meet Red Raiders in Seville or might already know students from
other areas going to the Spain TTU Center this upcoming summer (See Texas
Tech Study Abroad Spain in Facebook).
7.- Make Friends from around the world:
Seville offers the opportunity to meet
people not only from Spain, but from many places all over the world.
Students will get to meet international students who are also far away
from home.
8.- Don't have everyone else's Biggest Regret:
When the students at Texas Tech are
finishing their senior year, they take an exit questionnaire. One
question on this exit survey is: "List your biggest regret that you have
during your time at Texas Tech University." And year
after year, the regret that tops the list is "I wish I would have
studied abroad."
9.- Enjoy a Fantastic Cultural and Learning
Experience:
99.9% of students who have studied
abroad have found their experience to be a fantastic one and
overwhelmingly the response from students who have studied in Seville
has been extremely enthusiastic.
10.- Improve your Spanish while living in Spain:
Although the course is taught in
English, students will be living with Spanish families who speak very
little English. In addition, students will be trying to
communicate with some of the local "seņoritas" and "caballeros."
This will be their chance to brush up on that Spanish that they took in
High School. Students will be amazed at how quickly they can
recall words and phrases they thought that they had forgotten
(especially when they meet someone they like). This will be a
great opportunity to practice Spanish in Spain.
1.- Language
The course will be taught in English by
Dr. Francisco Delgadillo of the Texas Tech Rawls College of Business.
All students in the class will be Texas Tech students and the class will
meet at the Texas Tech Seville Campus.
For many years, a large number of
students from Texas Tech have attended study abroad programs in Spain,
Norway, the Czech Republic and many other countries without knowing the
native language. And for many years our bright TTU students have
found a way to communicate in those countries and experience their
culture. However, in Spain our students will have a distinct
advantage since many people in Seville speak English, and many of our
students have taken some Spanish.
2.- Safety
The rate of violent crime is very low in
Spain. However, car theft is a problem as is pick pocketing.
Texas Tech University has
administrators at the TTU Seville Center. In addition the university will
send Ms. Donna Wright from the Texas Tech International Cultural center
who is the coordinator for all Texas Tech Seville programs to oversee
activities in Seville. The TTU administrators in Seville, Ms.
Wright and Dr. Delgadillo (all fluent in Spanish) will be on call (24-7) in
case of any incidents, big or small. Furthermore, each student
will have a cell phone (in the budget under "necessary expenses") so they can call each other as well as their
professor and/or administrators at any time. The cell phone plan
will include free incoming calls so parents, family members or friends
can call without any expense to the students.
3.- Health Issues
Students will be covered by the
outstanding Sanitas Spanish Health Insurance. If a student falls
ill, all he/she has to do is call any administrator or his/her professor
and someone from the TTU Center will be immediately available to assist
(to take to a pharmacy, a clinic or a hospital depending on the gravity
of the situation). Over the years, the administrators and employees at
the TTU Seville Center have taken exceptional care of our students and
are second to none when it comes to responding to student health issues.
4.- Timing
The session will take place after the
Spring semester and before the Summer II session. All students
will have ample time to return to Lubbock to take Summer II courses.