Study Abroad: MHCC can take you beyond Gresham

MHCC’s study abroad program, according to Spanish instructor Paul Eckhardt, has so much to offer students that it deserves more than a quick thought.

The study abroad program is a faculty-run program in which students, accompanied by their teachers, travel to study at colleges and universities from all across the world, ranging from Europe, Central and South America, and Asia.

Though it is advised that students interested in studying abroad take language classes, Eckhardt said it is not a requirement.

“No prior language is required,” he said, though he added, “The more you have (language knowledge) before you go, the richer the experience.”
Eckhardt said the groups of students that attend a study abroad trip vary in size from 12 up to 20 students.

The program does not receive any funding from the college, so students must pay on their own, though Eckhardt said, “(Student) financial aid can be geared directly toward the study abroad costs.”

Eckhardt said costs for the trips vary from $2,300 for the cheapest trip to $8,000 for the most expensive.

Eckhardt said students can also seek study abroad opportunities with the Oregon International Education Consortium (OIEC), in which students may travel to London, Costa Rica and Florence as well as other locations.

For the MHCC study abroad program, there are four opportunities for students to travel and study in Mexico, Japan and Italy.

There are two separate trips to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, one that runs March 30 to May 26, which earns 15 credits of college Spanish and costs $3,825 (not including MHCC tuition), and a two-week trip to the same location from June 22 to July 7, for five credits ($2,300).

The trip to Kyoto, Japan, is June 19 to July 9 and earns three credits of Japanese Conversation while attending Ryukoku University ($3,500).
The last study abroad trip is to Perugia, Italy, which is from July 29 to Sept. 12 and earns five credits while studying.

“All the credits are transferred to real MHCC courses that are good for transferring to two-year and four-year universities,” said Eckhardt.
Asked of the value the study abroad program offers to students, Eckhardt said,

“When we talk to students what they thought of their trip, overwhelmingly they say it was definitely worth the money. That it’s the best thing they’ve done in their life.”

“It broadens the student’s perspective culturally and globally,” he said.

“The language learning is much more meaningful,” said Eckhardt, adding

that they have to put their language skills into practice constantly.
“No matter how good the instructor is, there’s nothing like them having to ‘own’ the language,” said Eckhardt.

Eckhardt, in regard to what kind of schools students will attend and what their living circumstances will be, said that those who travel to Japan and Mexico will be attending universities within their corresponding cities and will be living with either host families or in dormitories and apartments.

Dawn-Marie Bartlett, a student who studied abroad for two months at Academia Hispano Americana in Mexico last year, said she was initially anxious about the trip but soon found it to be very full-filling.

“I had never been to Mexico before and I was excited that I could go and that financial aid paid for most of it,” she said.

“I liked the idea of a total immersion program and living with a host family. It was pretty scary at first knowing we would be going somewhere so far from home not knowing anyone or even the language really.”

“Also, you hear so many bad things about Mexico that it is a bit daunting. But once we got down there and met our host families and seen the surrounding area, it was love at first sight,” she said.

When asked about the language difficulties with attending a college in Mexico, she said, “The first day at the Academia was a bit overwhelming because everyone spoke only Spanish.”

“In no time it seemed to fall into a comfortable and easy daily routine,” she said.

“I would definitely recommend this trip to anyone and everyone. It is an experience not to be missed.”

For more information on trips to Mexico, Japan or Italy contact Eckhardt at [email protected] or at 503-491-7497.

For more information of the OIEC study abroad opportunities, contact David Wright at [email protected] or at 503-491-7344.