Like a lot of good ideas, Josh教皇 and Melanie D’Amico’s was sparked by a conversation. The two Spanish linguists met at a conference a decade ago and stayed friends as their careers developed — with Pope now an associate professor of modern languages at Doane and D’Amico an associate professor of Spanish and linguistics at Indiana State University.
Both of them benefited from studying 在国外 as they pursued degrees, and they promote the value of travel in the classes they teach. But they came to a realization a few years back, while speaking after a roundtable discussion they attended.
“Melanie was the one that voiced, ‘why are we only writing for academics?’”蒲柏说。. “Why aren’t we writing about study 在国外 for the people who are 会 在国外?”
因此, the idea to write a guidebook began — one accessible to undergraduate students, to students pursuing international fellowships, even to the general public intrigued by an adventure elsewhere in the world or entering an international career.
这本书, “Making the Most of 出国留学: A Guide to a Top Notch Experience,” will be published in July 2024. It will be available in print and as an e-book from multiple book retailers, including 亚马逊 and your favorite local bookstores via 书店.
“We feel very proud of how practical our book is for a wide variety of students, for a wide variety of travelers,蒲柏说. “It also supports Doane’s mission, in helping students become global leaders.”
Both professors have heard students say they wish they had done more during their trips. So, while there is some technical planning advice — the checklist of tasks, like getting a passport, required vaccinations and the correct adapters for electrical devices, D中保说 she wants readers to get a sense for other actions they can take in order to make the most of their travel.
例如, considering what support or guidance will they receive 在国外, and are they 会 to a location where they’re just one more tourist or they’ll stick out from the crowd. There are sections on making friends and getting involved in the community. Travelers may just expect that these things will happen, D中保说, 不幸的是, that’s not always the case if they didn’t prepare in advance.
“They don’t know what they don’t know,蒲柏说. “Especially if it's a short-term program, it goes by so fast.”
“Making the Most of 出国留学” also isn’t a textbook. D’Amico and Pope wrote it so readers feel like they’re part of a conversation with friends, pulling from discussions they’ve had with their own students and each other. It’s something you should enjoy reading, D中保说.
Not every chapter will apply to every reader, either. Not studying a language? Feel free to skip that section. Like studying 在国外 itself, “you can ‘choose your own adventure’ to some extent,” she said.
