The Center for International Education’s study abroad expo on Wednesday helped with the lack of exposure of the program at Cal State Long Beach.
Cecilia Fidora, Assistant Director of Education Abroad Cecilia Fidora expressed that more exposure is needed. “We could really do with more marketing,” she said.
According to the CIE, only about 2 percent of CSULB students study abroad each year. The 30-tabled fair was set up to gain more publicity on campus.
“I would love to have 10 percent of CSULB students say they studied abroad, but 5 percent is a more realistic goal,” Fidora said.
The fair had a total of 21 organizations made up of on-campus representatives, such as the Study Abroad Club and the Career Development Center. There were also off-campus programs such as Semester at Sea and Study Abroad Italy.
Taryn Jones, a senior French major who studied in Paris for two semesters, volunteered at the event. She gave advice and shared her experiences.
“I think it was very successful,” Jones said. “Students are really showing interest in expanding their educational horizons. It’s awesome that they’re really willing to branch out.”
The CIE hosted a larger study-abroad fair in fall, consisting of 80 tables outside of the University Bookstore.
Wednesday’s expo was the first held in front of Brotman Hall, which is closer to the CIE. The area is busy with campus traffic so it was able attract students walking to class.
“We had a good turnout. Unfortunately, not as many students were interested as I thought there’d be,” said volunteer Miguel Gutierrez, a senior history major who studied abroad for two semesters in Madrid.
“Being American, we profit from the rest of the world but don’t take time to learn about it,” Gutierrez said.
Fidora added that the majority of the 700 to 800 CSULB students who study abroad each year go to Europe and Australia, but she would like to see more interest in Asian countries.
“We’re trying to give more students opportunities,” Fidora said.
