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It’s that time of year again, although it isn’t what we hoped for. Rainy day after rainy day, it’s honestly quite the mood killer. The semester is just about halfway done and the home stretch is here. It can be quite frustrating.
Plymouth State University is hoping to change that frustration and gloominess that has been in the air by once again holding International Education Week.
Starting November 5th, Plymouth State is looking to educate students on the benefits of worldwide education and exchange. The overall goal is simple: get students involved.
“We [want to] teach our students about the world even if they aren’t traveling,” says Dr. Laura Tilghman, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Plymouth State.
Dr. Tilghman is in charge of orchestrating the events being held during International Education Week. One event she is looking forward to is the showing of Behemoth, a film focused on the effect’s industrialization has had on the country of China.
“Plymouth State University has many student and faculty [members] of Chinese descent and we wanted to have an event for students interested in China,” Dr. Tilghman says.
This year will be different, however. Dr. Tilghman says to look forward to more interactive and academic events. Whereas in previous years the goal was to just deliver the facts on studying abroad, this year focuses more on potential paths studying abroad can bring you. That’s because the Global Engagement Office doesn’t have as much capacity this year as they have in the past. There was speculation that perhaps the event may even not take place.
Dr. Tilghman and some fellow colleagues sought to keep the event going. “[We] are still passionate about showing students what global knowledge is,” said Dr. Tilghman, “we want to showcase to the students on what International Education Week is.”
The event is open to all students regardless of intention to study abroad or not. Despite all of that, it is still an event that students should look into more. The opportunities that studying abroad can bring are limitless, and Plymouth State hopes International Education Week will open the doors for its students.