Exchange!
Story by Kealiʻi Rapozo
Graphic by Kaia McGerity
Photos provided by interviewees
Logo graphics from NSE and Global Exchange websites
Opportunities are endless, especially in college. There is always an opportunity to expand your knowledge and experience to so many things you would have never imagined. UH Hilo is one of the most culturally diverse universities in the U.S., serving as a melting pot for students going and coming through the exchange programs offered on campus. The Center for Global Education and Exchange, as well as the National Student Exchange, give students opportunities to expand their horizons and gain a new world view perspective. Ke Kalahea decided to speak to the coordinators of both programs to gain inspiration and bring awareness to the once in a lifetime opportunities they have to offer.
Carolina Lam is the coordinator of the Center for Global Education and Exchange, which deals with outgoing UH Hilo students going on exchange to our partnered schools around the globe. She has been in this position at UH Hilo since 2005.
Lam expresses that when she got to UH Hilo, she built the program from the ground up as it was in the best wishes and interests of Rose Tseng’s, the chancellor at the time, to expand UH Hilo’s international education programs.
“It was just a box of files, but I went to grad school specifically for this position and built the program that we have today,” said Lam.
When she first came on board, Lam was dealing with both incoming and outgoing students which she soon realized was too much for one person to handle.
Carolina Lam- coordinator of the Center for Global Education and Exchange for outgoing students
She wanted to focus on sending students to partnered institutions. Many of the responsibilities and plans include recruiting possible students, bringing on student employers to help their fellow peers, maintaining connections with other institutions and so much more.
A main emphasis of the exchange program is to encourage students to get a global perspective, at an affordable rate while paying UH Hilo tuition. For local students or other UH Hilo students who have that hunger to travel while earning credits towards their degree and haven’t had the opportunity, this is a great way for them to make that dream a reality.
Other responsibilities outside of her job description that Lam and other faculty have taken care of include other programs like Kawili Kine Cultures and Kuleana and Community. Both programs included opportunities for students to go on field trips, invest in the community, and gain new experiences.
Kawili only lasted a year during the pandemic, and due to similarities, Kerri Inglis, a history professor, expresses that she was considering starting a credit class called Kuleana and Community as it slowly transitioned into the same concept.
From a co-curricular program to a GCC credited From a co-curricular program to a GCC credited class, the intent of maintaining connections and building a foundation within the community has continued the same.
This year, a pilot community engagement program similar to the two classes has been held every Friday with community leaders invited to speak to the university and the public about their own experiences and what they do in the Kilohana Academic Success Center.
Lam describes her journey that began with studying abroad as a great opportunity to learn more.
“I was in third year Spanish and my advisor told me I could graduate in three years and I should study abroad.” {...} “Mexico and Spain were the only countries offered at the time but I had no desire to go there. Just so happened my mom had come back from Peru from visiting her family and my mom took up her advice. I was the only international student there. As a result of that, we have a partnership with Peru because I want students to go there,” Lam says.
Amongst many other opportunities to go on exchange that came to follow after college, she continued to keep an open mind with everything she experienced.
“It never stops, everyone thinks, ‘oh, that’s it,’ but when people know you’re interested in going abroad and trying new things you somehow get invited,” says Lam.
She expresses that her passion to explore the globe comes from her parents.
“Both of my parents are immigrants to the U.S., my mom is from Peru and my dad is [from] China and knowing that they took initiative in their late 30s, early 40s to leave everything that they knew and decided to start fresh has been my motivation my whole life,” Lam says.
She shares that this job wasn’t exactly what she had intended but her past experiences and future goals have fueled her desire to get to where she is today. Once she graduated with her anthropology and economics degrees from UH Hilo, she set out to Chile where through programs she was able to invest herself into humanitarian work, something she enjoys.
With this in mind, she set out for the School for International Training in Vermont for her masters degree.
QR code for UH Hilo Global Engagement Certificate, via the UH Hilo website
“While there I was able to fill an elective with international education which was something I fell in love with. I had a professor who was so passionate for his work it translated through my interest. He allowed us to have opportunities to go to other universities to shadow professors and have mentors, through this I was able to learn the logistics and planning process of research and then field work. Something I will always be thankful for,” says Lam.
She expresses, with the significance of her job, something they encourage all students to consider is the Global Engagement Certificate. This certificate is available to all students, with one of the components including a study abroad experience. “Learn about other ways of thinking and behaving by interacting with diverse cultures locally and abroad. Explore pressing issues of global concern, view these issues from different perspectives, and be leaders of positive social change” (UH Hilo Global Engagement Certificate.)
“I feel like many people, especially in today’s day and age, are not necessarily aware [of] what’s going on around the world. Being unaware of what is happening with our neighbors shows how ignorant we are as Americans. We should be making more of an effort to be inter connected with [other countries,]” says Lam.
She hopes for the UH Hilo community to have that drive and interest in pursuing global education and becoming a global citizen. Lam especially hopes to work with local students, as she understands how difficult it can be to travel, stepping out of their bubble and seeing what the rest of the world has to offer.
“As local kids, I want them to understand the world is bigger than our islands and everything is interconnected. Bringing that importance and knowing that impact will be a snowball effect,” says Lam.
As an alumni of UH Hilo, she hopes these experiences will translate both in and out of the classroom in all that they do.
“I think everyone should invest in their future. Participating in one of our exchange programs will be worthwhile for themselves because they will always take away from that experience and benefit from it for their future endeavors,” says Lam.
Todd Shumway- coordinator for the Center for Global Education for incoming students
Todd Shumway, the coordinator of the Center for Global Education, deals with both the incoming international students and other international agreements. Shumway has been working in this position since 2007 but also has an extensive history of work in education beforehand.
“In 1998, I worked at the Intensive English Program (IEP) which is a non-credit program for international students who come to learn English. At the time there was no English language program at UH Hilo, so all of the international students who wanted to study English would come to community college and then transfer up to the university,” says Shumway.
After becoming the director of IEP and receiving his masters, he moved up to the university level and taught in the English language institute to international students. Later on, he started his position of dealing with incoming international students and agreements not long after.
“In regards to when I started this job, the short answer is 1998, but the long answer is it’s been a process but I’ve been doing this job for about 17 years now and I’m thankful for every second of it,” says Shumway.
He expresses that there are two specific responsibilities that come with the job.
“First off, ensure incoming students are situated and have everything they need. From before they arrive to the entire time they’re here up until they leave, I look after them and do the same process for the group to follow,” he says.
He shares that the second part of his job is not only dealing with exchange agreements, but any other international agreement affiliated with UH Hilo.
“Some of our faculty have partnerships on their own with other universities that aren’t necessarily exchange partnerships but they’re doing research or online classroom collaboration or planning a conference. A lot of those need agreements with UH Hilo and the partnered schools so all of that comes to me for approval,” says Shumway.
He also shares that he is a part of an organization called Study Hawaiʻi, a program that focuses on Asian countries and is done throughout all Hawaiʻi schools that work with international students.
“We have this consortium where we promote Hawaiʻi as a state, not just our individual schools overseas. We do a lot of work, we have speakers, we hold virtual recruitment fairs—I help represent the organization for the whole state while also representing UH Hilo,” says Shumway.
Kaia's Graphic
During his undergrad, he shares that he got to go on National Student Exchange for a semester to expand his horizons.
“I attended Occidental College in Los Angeles, they had a program with American University, in Washington, D.C. so I spent a semester there during the fall semester of my junior year. It was similar to National Student Exchange but American University just had this program for students that were interred in foreign policy, or justice department, any tracks similar and foreign policy was mine,” he says.
He is thankful for his experience but shares that going on exchange at an education level has progressed through the years. As a coordinator, he’s glad to see how opportunities have evolved.
Back then there weren’t many study abroad opportunities, there would be only about five people from our university and you had to go to a full English speaking country unless fluent in other languages; we just didn’t have that back then.You had to mostly do it on your own,” says Shumway.
He shares that the education requirements for this position is to have your masters degree. Although, in today’s evolving age, in international education, a PhD requirement is slowly becoming more common. He knows he could have gone along that route, but it was his own personal experiences that served as the second requirement that gave him the experience of a lifetime.
“Ever since I was 25, I have been working with international students with a whole variety of capacities but that’s the common theme and that was my interest. In retrospect I’m glad I did it that way and didn’t just go get my PhD from another university and be there for the rest of my life. I did all these other things that taught me the broader scope of communication with people from different places and it’s not just in a university setting which is a very narrow way to look at it. Personal education vs academic preparation,” Shumway says.
The common thread he shares is that the reasoning to pursue this field always remains the same: bringing people together and facilitating intercultural education.
“The role of the center for global education and exchange was created to raise the level of awareness of our role as a global institution as a part of a larger pacific community,” says Shumway.
His way of giving back to the UH Hilo community is simply through the work that he does. “Not only is it an interesting and amazing experience for these students to have but to make UH Hilo an interesting place to be,” he says.
Holly Garriques- coordinator for National Student Exchange
His final thoughts is how he stresses not to be intimidated by the process. It’s not that hard to go abroad. Take advantage of the opportunity and make your own future.
Holly Garriques, coordinator for the National Student Exchange (NSE) since 2012, began her journey at UH Hilo at the advising center before moving over to NSE.
Garriques’ job entails dealing both with incoming and outgoing students while also advertising NSE to UH Hilo students.
“From helping them get admitted into the university, assisting with class options to adjusting to campus life. Anything to ensure they are taken care of prior and while they arrive,” says Garriques.
Although she doesn’t have experience going in exchange for her education, she does have a history of traveling and learning.
“After graduating from the University of Oregon, I went to the School for International Training (SIT) for her master degree in international education. I also have my CELTA Certificate in English Language Teaching. I did it at Cambridge University, Japan,” she says.
Garriques expresses that her background of global teaching and seeking cultural importance stemmed from wanting to give back to her Big Island community.
“From working in Japan, to working in ʻImiloa Astronomy Center gearing towards K-12 students to where I am today, my interest in wanting to work with students and exchange because I loved abroad and came back home just to do that,” says Garriques.
She shares that this current position is one she has looked forward to for quite some time. Not only is she happy to help others pursue their goals and further their education while abroad, but also being able to be home while doing so, is something she would have never thought of doing.
“With my past experiences of living away and that excitement of learning new cultures is something I wish all of our students could do. I really wanted to encourage our HI based students to go away and experience a whole new world out of Hawaiʻi,” she says.
She believes the significance of the job is to help students be able to think outside of the box, learn how to adapt and understand that there are always more opportunities out there. With all this considered, she expresses that the opportunities are endless.
“There really isn’t any wrong reason to go on exchange,” says Garriques.