“What to pack for 3 months in Korea,” “useful Spanish phrases” and “do they have peanut butter in Denmark?” are common prompts that might appear in the Google search history of a student preparing to study abroad.
For students of color and LGBTQ+ students, many of their identity-based questions cannot be easily answered by a search engine: Will I experience racism? What do I do if I face discrimination? Will I be safe abroad? Answers to these complex questions can be found in the community of diverse Terps who can provide advice drawn from their own experiences.
Education Abroad (EA) hosted Students of Color Community Coffee Hour and LBGTQ+ Community Coffee Hour to help form connections and a support network for students interested, planning or recently returned from study abroad.
Students mingled and laughed over international games like Lotería and Tapatan before listening to a panel of study abroad alumni. Over coffee and snacks, students had the space to ask questions and better understand what study abroad was like for peers with shared identities.
“You know you are in a room of people that you share an identity with, so it’s easier to talk about real, important issues that actually impact people of that identity. Being able to be straightforward and honest about our experience was really helpful-even in processing my own experience,” said Jack Burke, one of six student panelists.
Our partners at IES Abroad who co-facilitated the panels, Noelle Baldwin and Heath Thompson, were able to offer DEI expertise and resources for students of color and LGBTQ+ students, respectively.
Study abroad alumni, as well as EA and IES Abroad staff, worked to ease fears, share advice and encourage future study abroad students.
“Even though I was there to speak, I realized that I have a function to listen and be a set of ears for someone else and what their concerns might be,” said Burke.
Study Abroad Community Coffee Hours will return next semester, with several of the alumni in attendance hoping to return next year as panelists. EA plans to expand the event to veterans and first generation students in the future.
If you are preparing for a semester abroad and would like to speak with one of our peers, visit EA during peer walk-in hours.