Becoming a global citizen: OSU students take their education to another country

Becoming a global citizen: OSU students take their education to another country

Friday, December 13, 2024

Media Contact: Sophia Fahleson | Digital Communications Specialist | 405-744-7063 | [email protected]

As Newlin Humphrey completed her master's degree, she did so as a teacher in the Czech Republic, thanks to the Oklahoma State University Master of International Agriculture Program.

Most graduate programs have a preset roadmap with core classes a student must take. However, about one-third of the classes in MIAP are required. The remaining classes are flexible, including a capstone, an international experience and electives.

"It is an interdisciplinary graduate program," said Karl Rich, MIAP director. "This brings in students from all over the world with an interest in trying to solve global food and environmental problems."

In December 2023, Humphrey and Taylor Shackelford, master of international agriculture student, spent 10 weeks teaching at VOŠ a SZeŠ in Benešov, an agricultural high school in the Czech Republic, assisting students as they studied English curriculum.

"Working at the school and working with the faculty was just incredible," said Humphrey, who earned a Master of Science in agricultural education and leadership in May 2024. "I was nervous at first, and adjusting to the big cultural shift was interesting. I fell in love with it. Our role there was to help students with the Maturita exam."

The exam is a written and oral version of the SAT for Czech students who plan to attend college. For part of the exam, students can choose between mathematics or English. Humphrey helped students practice for the exam, including conversational English.

The school offers multiple agricultural pathways from which students can choose classes like horticulture, small and large animal veterinary science, agricultural mechanics, and landscape management.

"I enjoyed getting to work with all these students," Humphrey said. "I worked with students in all of the different pathways and facilitated different types of workshops."

Humphrey and Shackelford were the first students in this OSU exchange program in the Czech Republic.

The program is great for those who want to teach internationally and is available to undergraduate and graduate students, Rich said.

Other MIAP international exchange programs offer the opposite experience: studying rather than teaching.

Rich worked with Shannon Lucock, a faculty member at Lincoln University in New Zealand, to establish a six-month educational graduate exchange program between the universities in early 2024.

"MIAP students spend a semester in New Zealand, and Lincoln students spend a semester at OSU," Rich said. "They can earn graduate credit for the classes taken at the other university."

In February 2024, Dalton Nichols became the first OSU MIAP student to study at Lincoln.

Originally from northern California, Nichols left the U.S. for the first time when he traveled to New Zealand.

In addition to taking graduate classes in the agribusiness department at Lincoln University, Nichols worked part time for Livestock Visibility Solutions, an agricultural technology startup company, where he gained experience with different technologies, he said.

Nichols worked alongside Rich's former student Richard Appleby, CEO of Livestock Visibility Solutions in New Zealand.

"Richard is an entrepreneur who works with technology in the dairy industry in New Zealand," Nichols said. "I learned a lot about New Zealand dairy operations."

Nichols enjoyed his time in New Zealand working with Appleby, he said, especially learning about how dairies are operated compared to the U.S.

"We did a demonstration day with some of the technology, and that was great to see," Nichols said. "I got to experience exactly what Richard was working on.

"It was great to learn about some of the dairies in New Zealand and to find out how businesses operate," he added. "That could be a huge takeaway from the experience."

Back on campus, the Lincoln University students showed Nichols their culture and different parts of the country, he said.

He also traveled to Sydney, Australia, with friends from Lincoln.

"I spent time doing a lot of outdoor activities, seeing a lot of the country, and going on a lot of great hikes," Nichols said. "Having New Zealand students show me around and immersing myself in their culture was an amazing experience."

Nichols plans to finish the remainder of his master's degree online and graduate in May 2025.

He is grateful to Rich as well as Pam Bay, graduate coordinator for MIAP, for the connections and assistance they provided during this experience, he said.

"I would recommend MIAP to anyone who is looking for a flexible master's degree with a lot of opportunities in other parts of the world," Nichols said. "There was no way I would have gone to New Zealand with-out being in the MIAP program."

The exchange programs in the Czech Republic and New Zealand offer students practical, affordable and safe international experiences, Rich said.

"Being a global citizen matters," Rich said. "MIAP helps with one's professional development. Once you go overseas for the first time, you change and change for the better. MIAP equips students with skills to thrive in multi- cultural environments and just to help make the world a better place."

Story by Haley Rocha | Cowboy Journal

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