Students in life-changing program headed to Mexico

By Aaron Reincheld

Thirty-five Ohio University students will spend part of the winter break from classes in Guadalajara, Mexico. However, the trip will be anything but a vacation. Instead, these students from the Global Learning Community (GLC) will finish varied projects for Mexican businesses.

Started in the fall of 1998, the GLC is an interdisciplinary certificate program that uses a cross-cultural, global frame to instill leadership ability and confidence in Ohio University students.

This year's students have worked on projects all quarter with Mexican college students through the Internet, most of which have a market research angle.

The projects accomplish tasks the businesses wouldn't otherwise have the resources for and give students valuable experience, said Greg Emery, GLC director.

"The students come back transformed," he said. "These are fairly strenuous trips. The students go and we work, and we work hard."

But the group will use the weekends to fit in some of the cultural experiences, such as visiting the town of Tequila and attending a bullfight, during the two-and-a-half week trip, which starts the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

"When the students come back, they've really just grown a lot -- even in that short time," Emery said.

Senior Emily Wing had similar feelings about her trips to the Czech Republic and Thailand as a part of the GLC.

"It was life changing," she said. "It was amazing to see how other cultures work, how other students work."

Students in the GLC must complete two international experiences, past trips include journeys to Hungary and Ecuador. Emery said this is the first bilingual trip, with students on both sides using both Spanish and English. Previously, the group worked with English-speaking units at foreign universities.

Through the projects, students form friendships that can last for years and learn how to work with diverse people.

"They develop the ability to work with individuals very different from themselves, not only international students, but also students from different majors and backgrounds," Emery said.

After all the work, the last few days of this year's trip will be a chance to relax in Puerta Vallarta. But Emery said that's not the only reward, the trips can also provide the students a certain amount of perspective.

"The thing I hear a lot is they really learn to see America for the first time, and also to really appreciate a lot of benefits that go along with being an American," he added.

"There's just so much that the GLC offers, the intensity of it," Wing said. "It's a lot different than you're used to."

The success of the GLC has a lot to do with the students making the most of the opportunities they have, such as the international trips, Emery said.

"The typical GLC student is an overachiever," he said. "This is not the quickest way to get through the University."

Aaron Reincheld is a student writer with University Communications and Marketing.