The Return of the American Abroad

Students Lead America Back to the World Community

PASADENA, Calif., Feb. 16, 2005 -- In the years following the attacks of September 11, 2001, high school and college students from across the United States have reacted to the fear of terrorist attack, a plummeting dollar and America's tarnished world image in a way that few observers would have predicted: they have flooded study abroad programs with applications.

At a time when many believe that Americans have turned their backs to the world, students are traveling, studying, and volunteering overseas in growing numbers. During the 2002/03 academic year, the increase in the number of American students receiving credit for study abroad programs almost doubled, from 4.4% to 8.5%(1). While the popularity of overseas travel undoubtedly remains based in the timeless desire to "see the world" and break in freshly minted passports, increasing numbers of students and teachers seem to be motivated, at least partially, by a newfound appreciation for the importance of foreign language, cultural exchange and learning based on first-hand experience.

David Allen is the Executive Director of the Brighton Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides international study programs for high school and university groups. Allen, who has worked with American high school students overseas for more than a decade, agrees that the study abroad phenomenon has to be considered separately from the overall rebound in international tourist travel. "Like most things," Allen notes, "travel programs for young people are changing after the attacks of September 11th. Students have become increasingly aware that what happens in the U.S. is part of a global story, and they are looking to us for more than experience filtered through the windows of a tour bus."

As a result, organizations like the Brighton Foundation are developing a new breed of international study opportunities for high school students that bear little resemblance to the class trip to Europe most of us are familiar with. The time-tested formula of tour buses, hotels and postcard moments is giving way to summer programs for high school students modeled after university junior-year abroad programs that combine study, cultural workshops, faculty mentoring and regular interaction with local students. Brighton's current study abroad destinations include Spain, Costa Rica, France and Italy, with options ranging from language immersion to specialized programs like soccer and culinary arts.

Micheal Dale, a French teacher at the Horace Mann School in Riverdale, NY who directs summer programs for Brighton in France, likes the fact that students have broader goals in mind as they consider their summer travel options. "These students are normal, healthy teenagers," Dale notes. "They still want to have fun and explore the world, but they're also increasingly sophisticated and want more from their summer than a four-country travel tour. They are motivated to explore independently and develop fluency in foreign languages. They're also very cognizant of the fact that college applications are just around the corner, and that selective schools are looking for evidence of a lively curiosity, intellectual maturity, and engagement with other cultures. When my students return home from Europe, they haven't just visited another country; they've integrated another culture and language into their life story, and that kind of experience stands out."

For more information about summer Study Abroad, contact Brighton at 800.795.2985, or visit http://www.brightonedge.org.

Contact:
Christophe Chabaudie
(626) 795-2985

(1) Institute of International Education. Open Doors 2004:
American Students Studying Abroad. November 15, 2004.

A Case for Advanced Training

by Alex Wolff - PADI OWSI 43422

As an instructor, I am often asked “Why should I take advanced courses when I can learn on my own. After all, I am a certified diver and I can learn to dive over time.” Experience is the key to becoming a good, safety oriented diver and diving is one method used to gain experience (first hand). There is, however, another method to gain experience, learn from a more experienced or professional diver (second hand experience). There are advantages and drawbacks from both methods, First Hand and Second Hand.

Gaining experience using the First Hand method takes a lot of time. The psychomotor skills you develop while diving become part of you and remain with you as long as you continue to dive. Unfortunately, regardless of the number of dives that you do, you are left without a means to measure your progress. How many beach dives do you have to do before you are ready for a boat dive? How many boat dives before you are ready to penetrate that wreck? Do you really understand the risks involved with the new type of dive? Do you know all of the recommended procedures to complete the dive in a safe manner? Did your buddy remember to tell you everything you need to know? Will your buddy be able to recognize and react to situations before they become problems? Is your own judgement based solidly on fact?

Over time, the answer to all of these questions might be yes, but without formal training or being taken under the wing of an experienced diver a diver would probably have far more questions than answers. This is where Second Hand experience comes in. Most instructors have spent years diving before starting to teach. In addition to building their own first hand experiences, instructors take the various advanced, rescue, and specialty courses offered by their agencies thereby gaining valuable second hand experiences. They have the opportunity to learn the risks, safety procedures, and what the experts in the field (dive agencies) believe a diver at various levels should know prior to attempting that first night, deep, wreck or other advanced type of dive.

One strength of participating in advanced courses is that the minimum information you need to learn is outlined for the instructor by the certifying agency. Unlike your buddy, your instructor will not forget to tell you to exhale air into your mask to prevent mask squeeze during the deep dive. The knowledge the instructor can share with a class full of students probably exceeds by far the knowledge any one diver could learn from first hand experiences in many years of diving. (The course was designed by divers with many years of experience and instructional training.) During open water training sessions, the instructor has the training and experience to react to situations and prevent problems from occuring. You can develop the knowledge in the classroom and the water skills under the guidance of the instructor. The funny thing is, although it takes years to learn this information on your own, most advanced training sessions are completed in a period of less than two weeks.

Possibly the most valuable commodity we have is time. It seems there is never enough time. By enrolling in courses such as Advanced Open Water, Rescue, Deep, Wreck and Night Diver, you can save yourself a few years and start doing advanced level dives with the confidence that good training builds.

Dive safely!

Alex Wolff, a SCUBA instructor, is Principal and Technical Director of Sea Wolff Diving. Sea Wolff Diving developed the Sea Wolff Dive Log for Windows, Sea Wolff Diving Buddy Procedures Workshop, SWD Recreational Intensive Training program, the SCUBA Serenity Workshop and consults on PC systems development for the dive industry.

Sea Wolff Home Page mailto:divelog@seawolff.com (516) 931-3955

Find Your Easy-start Niche

... and Launch Your Professional Practice With a Bang

by Marcia Yudkin

In the last seven years, I’ve helped more than three dozen people become consultants or copywriters and launch their practice. After helping so many people figure out their easiest, most promising way to start earning money with a new skill and build a clientele, I should probably patent the method! Here are the steps, though, which I believe will work for just about anyone who’s already had some professional or personal experience as an adult.

First, ask yourself what groups of people you have contacts with or you have a special affinity with because of your professional or life experience. One protégé had been an executive recruiter two careers previously, and though he didn’t have any current contacts in the industry, knew he could come across with uncommon credibility with recruiters since he had "been there." Another decided to target gay and lesbian business owners in her city, since she belonged in that category and knew several professional groups where she could network and contribute to their newsletter.

Second, catalogue your preferences. Do you enjoy working with the folks in the groups that came up in answer to question #1? I strongly believe that if you don’t respect and like your clients, it comes across and your business will never catch fire and glow healthily. One of my trainees decided not to pursue ad agencies as clients because she’d met too many "phonies" at such organizations.

Third, research whether a certain niche is reachable and large enough to sustain a practice. A protégé who wanted to do copywriting with software companies in her geographical area between $10 and $50 million in annual sales was able to identify more than a hundred of them within a two-hour drive of her house. That meant a green light for her launch. If there were only four or five such companies, I’d have encouraged her to find a different niche to start with, or to target other groups at the same time from the start.

Fourth, do a reality check: Does this group have the money and willingness to pay for your services? Some professions and demographic groups are accustomed to paying for professional services, while others aren’t used to doing so and balk at even reasonable fees. For instance, as a former college professor I should have been able to rack up tens of thousands of dollars from other professors wanting to be published. However, in 25 years I’ve encountered very few professors open to the idea of paying for help on their writing, and I discourage others from choosing this as a niche. Likewise, I don’t believe it would be wise to target 20-somethings as clients, since their own earnings are low and they’ve probably never hired any kind of
consultant before.

Fifth, decide on one or more marketing vehicles that you feel comfortable with and fashion a pitch for your services using them. One former sales executive excelled at calling up strangers and marketing to them by phone, while practically everyone else I’ve worked with chose some combination of direct mail, networking and a web site to get their business off the ground.

I should add that when launching your professional practice, it’s smart to do a few jobs free to collect a portfolio of samples and/or testimonials.

After you milk your chosen niche and have a solid financial foundation, you can certainly change your target, adding new groups and abandoning populations that don’t fulfill your expectations. You might end up offering your services to anyone and everyone, but that’s not the shrewdest starting point. Even with my easy-start formula you’ll need some patience, but it maximizes the odds that business will start and continue coming in at a rate that encourages you to stick with it until your practice is unquestionably off the ground.

Marcia Yudkin is the author of the classic copywriting guide, Persuading on Paper, Web Site Marketing Makeover, and nine other books. You can learn more about her ten-week, one-on-one copywriting training course at http://www.yudkin.com/become.htm and her Certified Web Site Marketing Makeover Consultant training course at http://www.yudkin.com/becomeweb.htm .