The Education Abroad Program will not be hosting its Explore EAP
Fair this year, but will still be informing students about
opportunities overseas at today’s Study Abroad Fair.
The Study Abroad Fair, put on by the Career Center EXPO
Internship and Study Abroad Services, will provide students with
information about study abroad opportunities from programs
affiliated with the UC system and those that aren’t.
Eva Walthers, international programs counselor for the
Internship and Study Abroad Services office, said the Study Abroad
Fair attracts about 15,000 students each year and the numbers
continue to grow.
EAP is a UC systemwide study abroad program that offers students
UC credit for coursework at host universities in foreign
countries.
Students in their second year and above are encouraged to
participate in programs lasting from a single quarter up to a full
year.
Since studying abroad has become a national trend among college
students, the EAP office organized its first fair in 2002 so that
more students could be aware of and participate in the program.
The fair introduced about 2,300 interested students to EAP
opportunities with tables representing different countries and
staffed by EAP returnees, said Emily Mohajeri Norris,
administrative director of UCLA’s EAP office.
Norris said the EAP Fair contributed to a 30 percent increase of
student applications from the year before because of the peer
outreach approach, which allows interested students to talk to
others who have participated in the program.
This year’s EAP Fair was cancelled because the organizers
believed it would be more efficient if they teamed up with the
Career Center in order to inform students about EAP
opportunities.
“As successful as the 2002 (fair) was, it took hundreds of
staff and volunteer hours to plan and implement,” Norris
said.
“In order to meet the increasing demand in student
interest in EAP, we are streamlining our outreach efforts and
maximizing our counseling time,” she added.
EAP has previously participated in the Study Abroad Fair, and
this year EXPO is providing EAP with additional tables so that
interested students can have a chance to talk to EAP returnees and
exchange students about their experiences abroad.
Monika Zsunkiewicz, a second-year international economics
student, will be attending today’s fair and hopes to study
abroad in Spain through the EAP program next year.
“I enjoy travelling and find learning about other cultures
and their traditions interesting,” Zsunkiewicz said.
Anthony Benson, a fourth-year Spanish student, studied in Spain
during this past year with UCLA’s EAP.
“EAP’s study abroad program has allowed me to
experience great new things and I have perfected my Spanish while
in Spain,” Benson said.
The Study Abroad Fair will be held today in Ackerman Grand
Ballroom from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.