PSU in Paraguay program keeps growing

This program arises from an agreement between Pittsburg State University, with the Catholic University of Asuncion, and the Paraguay - Kansas Comittee. In which PSU offers classes in Paraguay for the first two years of undergraduate studies and this are the general education credits required as part of the curriculum for all students that choose a career in the United States.

Students may either complete the program with a chosen career on the Pittsburg campus,or may be also transferred to another university in Kansas or anywhere else in the country.The classes in Asuncion are taught in English mostly by PSU faculty, they are held monthly in modules, which means that students can enroll at any time and the requirements they need to meet are the same as the regular admission requirements for international students at Pittsburg State University.

Andy Gonzalez, senior in Human Resources Development, is part of the PSU IN Paraguay program and he is graduating next December. ''I had always wanted to go to college in the US, so my family and I were constantly looking for options and this is how we learned about the program,’’ he said.

‘’Pittstate has gifted me with happy memories, good friends and a chance to learn from its excellent faculty. They provided me with the opportunity to find a career that really fits who I am,’’ Gonzalez said.

‘’I strongly encourage students to take advantage of all of the exchange programs that PSU
offers, you can experience new things and learn a lot about yourself in the process,’’  he said: ‘’It's one of those opportunities that you will never regret doing it.’’

Cynthia Woodburn, from the Department of Mathematics taught her Intro to Analytic Process class in Paraguay, ''It was a wonderful experience and I am so glad that I did it,’’ she said.

‘’It is very much different from teaching in Pittsburg, but the students were very friendly and even though sometimes they talked a bit more in class than American students, they were also very hard working and had good background of knowledge.’’

Woodburn said: ‘’Students were constantly asking me questions about the subject and it was very obvious that they wanted to learn. I taught a three hour, Monday through Friday class that lasted three weeks.’’  

‘’I would definitely recommend it to another colleague on campus, because I believe the experience made me a better teacher.’’

According to Cynthia: ‘’Driving in Asuncion was very different, the traffic was not at all like in Pittsburg, but the country was very beautiful,’’ she said: ‘’they took me to one of the tourist places, called ‘’Iguazu Falls’’ located in the boarder of Brazil and that was such an amazing experience.’’

‘’There were lots of beautiful blooming trees with pretty colorful flowers and I also got to see some blue orchids while I was there, so that was fun.’’

‘’I would definitely go back if I could and the experience really made more empathetic to international students with the language differences, if feel like I have a better understanding of how hard it is to adapt to a different culture or just to be away from home,’’ she said.

Gary Wilson, from the Department of Social Sciences taught his Intro to Sociology class in Paraguay two times, first in Spring of 2009 and then again in Spring of 2011, since the subjects in the program alternates every year.

‘’It’s a bit of a culture shock and overall is a great experience. It’s interesting because the students are already familiar with each other, because they move through the program together and even though sometimes students enroll only for certain classes, still most of the time the teacher is always the new person in the class and that changes the atmosphere in the room,’’ he said.

According to Wilson: ‘’Students are very conscientious about their work and they are very concerned about making a good grade in the class. They want to make sure of almost always having perfect attendance, because the class only lasts around a month so if you miss a day in class you will miss a lot of material and they understand that,’’ he said.

‘’I would absolutely recommend this experience to another instructor in PSU, because I just think is such a wonderful opportunity, he said: ‘’ In 2009 I visited the ‘’Jesuit Ruins,’’ located in Encarnacion.’’

‘’Then in 2011, the weekend before my class started I spent a couple of days in the beach of Montevideo, Uruguay, and the weekend after my class was over; we went to Buenos Aires, Argentina, so sometimes you get to visit the surrounding countries as well,’’  he said.