by Claire Miller
Since arriving in Atlanta in late December, Ida Wales has had ample time to explore different pockets of Atlanta before her spring semester at Georgia State University began on Jan. 9.
“There are so many communities and neighborhoods here,” said Wales, an exchange student from Malmö University in Sweden. “It’s very diverse.”
Wales is one of eight exchange students and two visiting scholars who were welcomed to GSU during the College of Education’s International Student Welcome Reception on Jan. 18.
Coordinated by Yunkyung Chang-Hoffman and the COE Office of International Programs, the welcome reception takes place each fall and spring semester and gives exchange students and visiting scholars the opportunity to meet COE faculty and staff, and representatives from GSU’s Office of International Affairs.
“We’ve got extraordinary faculty, administrators and others in the College of Education and at Georgia State who support our international work and help make these exchanges possible,” said COE Dean Randy Kamphaus. “We have many rich resources students can take advantage of while studying with us.”
Students like Wales and Simone Meijer, an exchange student from Han University in the Netherlands, will have the opportunity to work and study side by side with COE faculty and students this semester and become better acquainted with the city of Atlanta.
Meijer, who is taking courses on critical and contemporary issues in education and teaching children from diverse backgrounds, is looking forward to spending time in local schools and gaining a better understanding of the American educational system.
“I’m looking forward to so many things, but I’m very excited about visiting schools in Atlanta and doing research on the school systems here,” she said.
For more information about the COE’s international programs, visit http://education.gsu.edu/international.
