You don't need a passport to qualify for admission at UT Knoxville, but having one handy while you're here may not be a bad idea. After all, who knows when you might be catching the next plane to Zanzibar?
"Ready for the World," the university's center-stage initiative for bringing a global consciousness to the lives of its undergraduates, pulses these days with energy and conviviality. Embarking for points abroad, UT students learn about diverse cultures by being there, engulfed in life, from Great Britain to the Congo to Singapore to the South Seas. To UT, students stream from across our continent and from dozens of nations around the world.
There's a renewed sense of the importance of knowing another's language, of seeing things from afar, of finding our own country's place in the ebbs and tides of a small planet. And, perhaps most importantly, there are the connections to be made on a personal level, never to be forgotten.
In the words of nursing graduate English Canfield, recalling an undergraduate medical trip to Costa Rica: "when you immerse yourself in another culture, your haughty ideals, misconceptions, prejudices and proud heart melt away. Out of the experience you gain a deeper respect for other cultures. At the same time, you grow more proud of where you live and you learn more about yourself in the process. These trips have helped shape my personality and have given me confidence in myself. They have broadened my cultural knowledge, and most of all, have enhanced my educational experience at the University of Tennessee."
Accounting senior Brian Crane felt so exhilarated about his semester in Cordoba, Argentina, he bought a motorcycle, cranked up a blog for friends and family, dove further into Spanish verbs, and extended for a second semester.
"I pushed myself out of my comfort zone," he says, "that zone being an entirely different hemisphere. And if I can make it in Argentina, I can go anywhere and make it."
