Study abroad program at USUE

This archived article was written by: Emma Campbell

Study Abroad Programs have been part of the USU Eastern curriculum for the past three years and additional students are needed to apply to go to Honduras in May 2018.
Jamie Cano, Ph.D., and Tyler Agner were invited to Honduras to consult on its education system in the early 2000s. They learned that the education system itself is not the issue, it is the hunger the children faced everyday. Cano and Agner decided on their trip back to the United States that they had to do something.
Their solution, a study abroad program. In 2004, they started taking Ohio State college students to Honduras for two years. The next few years, the program brought in high school agriculture teachers and their students.
Cano was hired in July 2017 as Associate Vice Chancellor of professional and technical education bringing the study abroad program to Eastern, along with him.
The study abroad program was brought to Eastern in 2016 in partnership with Ohio State University who they also partnered with in 2017. “Thus, this will be the third year at Eastern, but the first time that Eastern is doing its own study abroad,” Cano states.
This program is for Price campus students, students in Logan and other USU sites across the state.
Students who participate in the study abroad program in Honduras gain many cultural experiences they will never get in the U.S.
There are many service aspects to the study abroad program as well. Students who attend will be doing various projects in different villages. They help teach at schools and learn valuable communication skills. Students will make meals for children at the elementary schools to help fight the hunger distracting from education.
The study abroad program also facilitates lots of fun activities while in Honduras. They will be going to a rain forest and take a five-hour-guided tour.
A favorite site for students to see is the five-story towers housing different birds as well as traveling to an island.
A new activity being tested this year is going to coffee experiment stations. Students will watch how coffee is made and taste it for themselves.
The total estimated cost to attend the program is $2,645. This pays for airfare, housing, all meals, local transportation, project funds and excursions. Cano wants to point out to students that there is always a way to pay. “Apply for scholarships and put on fund raisers,” Cano suggests.
He hopes to see 15 students from the Price campus signed up to go in May 2018. “There are still spots available”, Cano says.
To apply to the Study Abroad program email Jamie Cano at [email protected] Or contact Tyler Agner at [email protected] .