Artwork by
Dennis Murphy

For the students, by the students

Home Away From Home: Exploring Life Outside of States
Melissa Clark, Corner Post Staff

March 14, 2004 - Roy Robinson possesses a mature, confident, and independent quality, which makes him qualified for his position as the new program director of international studies. That "character" may stem from his hometown, educational background, and his experiences oversees. Robinson is a Columbia native.

"I went to Hickman High School. I studied French in high school," Robinson said. "Senior year, I was going through the motions of being confident when speaking a different language. In high school, you are confident about reading and writing in a different language, but cringe when you have to speak in a different language. I later went to Paris with my classmates. Going to another country was a big eye-opener and later gave me confidence to communicate in a different language."

While attaining his bachelor's degree at MU, Robinson faced many obstacles. During his years as an undergraduate, he had difficulty finding his niche. But while getting involved at MU, he says began to feel confident of his surroundings.

"I coasted through school and I had no idea where I was going to end up in my career," Robinson said. "Then I volunteered for Peace Corps and it was an amazing educational experience. After I went abroad, I knew that I wanted a career dealing with exploring the world outside the U.S. When I came back to the states, I switched my major from History to International Studies."

As the new program director for study abroad in the CAFNR program, Robinson hopes to create new methods of encouraging students to go oversees and explore different cultures.

"This is my second week on the job, but there are lots of things we're trying to do to get students more involved in the study abroad program. The goal is for students to have an experience out of the country during their four years of college," Robinson said.

"Study abroad will also help when looking for a job. Employers want to see if you are able to turn concrete experiences into great ones and apply life situations on the job. This will tell them how much you are able to handle on a real job and they are more apt to hire you rather than a person who has made good grades in college and never experienced a difficult experience."

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