The University of Oklahoma, by the
means of the Education Abroad Office, offers the opportunity to foreign
students to spend a semester or an academic year in the college, also
benefitting by services provided to the American students.
For the past academic year, the university
hosted 283 exchange students from 29 different countries; China and France are
the nations where most of the exchange students come from. During the exchange period, tuition and fees for
OU are waived for the students, but they continue to pay them
regularly to their home universities.
The program started in 1986, with
President Frank E. Horton and Millie Audas, then associated adviser for special
students, when a specific office for the exchange program hadn’t been yet
found.
Tina Henderson, exchange student
adviser at OU, explained that the number of exchange students has increased
over the years.
“When President Boren arrived at OU
in 1994, the program developed significantly,” Henderson said. “He’s very
internationally-minded, and it is his merit if the program is growing so fast.”
Foreign students arrive to OU from
all over the world; some of them were interested in experiencing life in U.S.,
others made their choice valuating the academic programs offered by the
university.
“I came to U.S. because I had
already been here for travelling and I like the American lifestyle, I chose OU
mainly for my passion for the Sooners football team,” said Kevin Haensel, exchange
student from Germany.
Being an exchange student means also
appreciating differences in habits and attitudes:
“People here are very helpful and
civil,” said Chen Wanjing from China. “My professor gave me important
suggestions about doctorates, since I want to do one here in future.”
Yet, some of these students can face
hurdles:
“Everything here is so spread out,
if you haven’t a car it’s hard to reach many places. Unfortunately, public
transportation here is poor,” said Laura Bueno from Colombia.
As the Exchange Student Program
grew, the city of Norman saw an increase in the flux of international students
benefitting in social, cultural and economic terms.
Exchange students Baptiste Agulhon, Michael McLaughlin and Carla Sandoval talk about their life at OU and Tina Henderson explains what her tasks are as well as what the university offers during the academic year, in Norman, Oklahoma: Vestito, 2:58
