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Local student among many studying abroad

Today’s employers say they value international work-study experience.

University of Cincinnati student Carlo Cruz of Centerville will be traveling to India on Dec. 7 to work on a documentary film with members of the NM Saduru Water and Development Foundation.

Kareem Elgazzar/Staff photo University of Cincinnati student Carlo Cruz of Centerville will be traveling to India on Dec. 7 to work on a documentary film with members of the NM Saduru Water and Development Foundation.

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By Kareem Elgazzar, Staff Writer 11:02 PM Sunday, November 27, 2011

Students are studying abroad at a record-breaking numbers, reflecting the value employers place on international experience.

More than a quarter-million students studied abroad during the 2009-10 academic year, a 4 percent increase over the previous year, according to the Washington-based Institute of International Education.

More than 14,000 students studied in China last year and there was also a 44 percent increase in students going to India. Israel, Brazil, Egypt and New Zealand also showed large percentage increases in the report.

At the University of Cincinnati, the honors program consists of the top 7 percent of undergraduate students.

Through a $100,000 grant from UC2019, an agenda-setting initiative as the university moves toward bicentennial celebration, students are heading to India during winter break to assist with a nonprofit organization’s efforts in rural development.

Carlo Cruz, 21, of Centerville, will depart for Gujarat, India, on Dec. 7 and return Dec. 22, along with 11 other students. He will be working on a project for the NM Saduru Water and Development Foundation and will be visiting three villages within Gujarat.

Cruz will be working on a short documentary film with other group members.

“What Saduru does is provide micro-finance loans to individuals, and helping them find their own ways to survive,” said Cruz, who is earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemical engineering.

Within the documentary series, Cruz and his classmates will be telling the story of preselected people who live in the villages.

According to the IIE report, the most common fields of study for U.S. students abroad are social sciences, business management, humanities, fine and applied arts, and physical and life sciences. Cruz said the chief motivation for students traveling abroad is to augment the degrees they started to pursue at American schools.

“In my previous international trip to South Korea (in March), it was really enlightening for my future career path,” Cruz said. “It taught me a lot in terms of personal aspirations.”

The cost of the trip per student is approximately $2,600, after $1,000 in University Honors grants.

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