Cross-culturals are some of the most valuable education opportunities EMU provides for its students. A full semester of not only studying but also interacting with a culture, staying in native homes, and getting outside and moving is a chance that is not often found outside of EMU.
However, it seems that in recent years, semesterlong cross-culturals are being overlooked.
Applicants for semester cross-culturals are down and short-term trips are increasing. Education outside of the classroom, in a full cultural immersion, is all too often pushed aside for internships and classes.
According to NAFSA: Association of International Educations, 325,339 students from the United States studied abroad in 2016. That number is just over 1.6 percent of all of the United States’ students enrolled in higher education. EMU having cross-cultural experience as a built-in requirement is rare in universities, and EMU has a highly-developed program. Best College Reviews, which has been featured by the Huffington Post and the Economist, ranked EMU 13th among universities with the best study abroad programs.
EMU has the program and the means to provide an experience that few other universities can offer at a similar caliber, and it is disappointing that trips have been struggling to find participants.
Cross-culturals provide opportunities for students to look past themselves and the society they are surrounded by and really learn about the world. I have accompanied my family on four EMU cross-culturals, most when I was young and rather impressionable, and each time I came out of it mentally challenged and changed. I returned with more knowledge of the world outside Harrisonburg than most of my peers, and I learned how to approach problems differently, or at least think more critically of the environment I found myself in now that I cognitively understood that the United States is not the standard for the rest of the world.
Internships can provide valuable time in the workforce learning and better understanding a chosen field, but, at least at EMU, there will be time for internships later in life. Cross-culturals are not necessarily something that can be done later in life, at least not to the extent that EMU offers.
Half of the reason I came to EMU was the crosscultural program. I wanted to see the world in a way I will most likely never have the opportunity to once I graduate and turn my focus toward future career opportunities.
I am leaving for the Middle East crosscultural in the spring, and I am ecstatic. I am soon to be hiking the Jesus Trail, eating with and getting to know my Palestinian host family, and walking the ground where three of the world’s major religions began. No class could teach me anything I am about to experience, and I am sure I will return altered in some way yet again, for the better.
