International students Jessica Dihardja, left, and Daniel Weeks, far right, talk with Luke Reese, an associate professor in the Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, after leaving the 2010 Michigan Agriculture Expo, where they went to learn about the importance of the agricultural business in Michigan. Two weeks ago a group of 13 students from Macquarie University, in Sydney, Australia, came to the U.S. to study business at MSU for three weeks.
Trading a summer of surfing off the Australian coast and skiing in New Zealand for three weeks of graduate classes might sound irrational, but it was the opportunity for which Daniel Weeks of Sydney had been waiting.
Weeks, a commerce in business graduate student at Macquarie University in Sydney, is one of 13 students participating in a three-week biennial exchange program for business graduate students from July 1-25 through the MSU Office of Study Abroad and Eli Broad College of Business.
“I had always thought about going abroad, and this opportunity came to me, so I thought I would take it up,” Weeks said. “I was initially thinking of coming for a semester, but this fit in with my subjects and what I needed to do with my major.”
Although the exchange program was from an Australian university, Weeks was the only Australian on the trip. The 12 remaining students were international students at Macquarie who wanted to go abroad again, such as Jessica Dihardja, an international business graduate student, who originally is from Indonesia.
“It’s quite interesting to get to know this country and compare it to Australia and compare it to my home country, Indonesia,” Dihardja said.
The short-term program packed about 45 hours of instruction into three weeks, including guest lectures, speech writing, industry visits and group presentations. During weekends, the students took recreational trips to Lake Michigan, Chicago and a Lansing Lugnuts game, said Sandy Tupper, a study abroad program coordinator who is responsible for the exchange programs.
“For most of them, that is the first time they have ever seen a baseball game,” Tupper said.
There are about 100 students who come to MSU through exchange programs each year, although the programs usually are at least one semester long, Tupper said. This program occurred during the students’ break between semesters.
The major difference between an exchange and an international student is the exchange students pay the tuition of their respective institutions, which is significantly less expensive than international fees, Tupper said.
“We act as their resource,” Tupper said.
“If they have any questions at all, they come see us. We kind of try to keep an eye on them throughout the semester, which is different than the degree-seeking students.”
Culture comparisons
The most substantial distinction between Australia and the U.S. has less to do with culture, and more to do with the size of metropolitan Sydney compared to East Lansing, Weeks said.
“I don’t think there is much of a culture difference,” he said. “From the Americans I have met, I have got along with them fine — I haven’t had to adjust my behavior.”
Sherri Henry, Eli Broad College of Business’ assistant director of admissions, organized the academic side of the exchange program and was one of the guest lecturers during the trip.
“Across the board, they have the same kind of responses as the students here,” Henry said. “It’s kind of fun to see how similar students are globally.”
From her experience, the East Lansing community and MSU students were friendlier, Dihardja said.
“It has been fun because I have gotten to know some of the MSU students who live in (Owen Hall) as well,” Dihardja said. “We have met in the hallway or the laundry room or the elevator and just chatted.”
International acclaim
Before coming on the trip, the students submitted applications and underwent an interviewing process at Macquarie, Henry said. This particular exchange program is in high demand because of the Eli Broad College of Business’ international reputation, she said.
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“There are a lot of students from Macquarie who want to come here,” Henry said.
Although, Henry said preparing the program is intensely laborious and limiting the group to no more than 14 makes it easier to take field trips, for the sake of transportation.
“It’s kind of funny when you think that the people we see every day are really the global experts in these areas,” Henry said. “For the students to have the opportunity to engage them in academic conversations is a very intriguing and appealing thing to do.”
Although the professors from Macquarie are similar to those at MSU, Weeks said all of his professors have been excellent, which he thinks must be a deliberate scheme.
“You don’t go abroad to study — you go abroad to have fun,” Weeks said. “But I have actually learned quite a bit here.”
Advantages abroad
Although the students’ applications are processed through the MSU Office of Study Abroad, Peter Briggs, the director of MSU’s Office for International Students and Scholars, said MSU’s chance to interact with international students in any capacity is beneficial.
“It gives us a chance to see where we are in the world and see the world differently,” Briggs said.
Luke Reese, an associate professor in MSU’s Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, was a field trip faculty leader who took the students to the 31st annual Michigan Agriculture Expo on Wednesday. Reese said he has led study abroad trips with MSU students to Australia throughout the past 12 years and said traveling produces better students.
“The big thing — as Americans — is we don’t travel,” Reese said. “They’re global citizens, they’re going to travel — it’s a given.”
Both Dihardja and Weeks said they would have preferred a longer trip that occurred during the school year, instead of the summer.
“It would have been nice if all the students were in the area, so you could properly experience what it’s about,” Weeks said. “I would recommend coming for a whole semester.”
