International Week wraps up festivities
Dominican students who get a good education will be able to return and influence their home country in a positive way, according to former Vice President of the Dominican Republic Rafael Alburquerque, who visited USU’s campus Friday.
Many international students are here because of a scholarship they receive from the government in their home country. Shelly Ortiz, director of international scholarships and short-term programs for global engagement, said they originally invited Alburquerque to USU three years ago, but when he couldn’t come because of his duties there, they kept trying.
“It was important for him to come because obviously, he can share a strategic vision with the students,” Ortiz said. “While he was visiting, he became very enthusiastic about the program.”
Alburquerque said having students from his country come and study at USU is important because it helps the students gain experiences they could not have gained at home.
“With their schooling, they become more informed professionally,” Alburquerque said. “And when they return to the Dominican Republic, they will be able to serve their families and country with the knowledge that they have worked for and cherished.”
Ortiz said the event allowed students to voice concerns about how they can make the most out of the government’s investment in them and how they will be incorporated back into their country after graduation.
Alburquerque’s presentation to the student body as a whole discussed challenges and progress made in the country’s economy. He said education is the key to resolving the issues.
Alburquerque said when Dominican students return to the country with an education, they will contribute to the country’s economic and social development.
“Through leaving the Dominican Republic – and let’s not forget that the Dominican Republic is an island, and as an island, it’s isolated – these students come to know another culture, exchange with North American society, have contact with other nationalities,” Alburquerque said. “That opens a completely different vision and perspective of how the world works, of what the requirements there are in a time of globalization and the digital age.”
Ivan Quezada, president of the DSA, said the students were excited to have Alburquerque come to campus.
“I feel like it’s a great honor because it’s a way to notice that people in our native country are keeping track of us,” Quezada said. “They listen to us if we have complaints or suggestions. He wanted to come because he’s interested in us. He’s coming because he cares.”
Quezada said there are 108 Dominican students with the scholarship altogether at USU – 95 on the Logan campus and 13 at USU Eastern in Price. Quezada said the scholarship provides housing, a meal plan and an allowance for books and school materials.
He said International Education Week is an opportunity to “promote diversity and culture throughout the school.” Learning about other cultures is important to him.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a domestic (native) student or international student,” Quezada said. “The important thing is that you care about other cultures and p
romote diversity. You can support all the international activities, get to know the clubs and go to activities.”
Alburquerque said he is pleased that students here get to experience different cultures through developing friendships with domestic students as well as with other international students. Alburquerque saw firsthand the diversity represented at USU by being a guest judge at the Ms. and Mr. International Pageant. The winners of the contest were Saleha Jamal Ahmed, Miss Somalia, and Boyang Cui, Mr. China.
“Cultural diversity is fundamental because it’s what permits integration,” Alburquerque said. “It’s what facilitates that men and women with different ethnicities, with different cultures, with different religions, with different anxieties or orientations to be integrated and realize that they need each other.”
Alburquerque said native students who develop friendships with international students help enrich their experience and teach them things they cannot learn inside the classroom.
Ortiz said she would like to increase the participation of domestic students in international affairs.
“It benefits students,” Ortiz said. “They open up their eyes and they can see different perspectives and that there’s more. There are good people across the world, and getting to know them influences those stereotypes that we tend to have.”
Alburquerque said in the world today, it’s necessary to learn how to relate to other cultures, even if they think differently. He said when he met with Dominican students, he wants them to take advantage of the opportunity they have been given and work hard.
Alburquerque said he hopes they will stay focused and graduate so they can come back home and share what they have learned with their fellow Dominicans.
-m.noble@aggiemail.usu.edu
Alburquerque (Zak Ricklefs photo)