COMMUNITY SERVICE PLUS STUDY ABROAD EQUALS A FUN EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE

Community service and study aboard prove to be great ways to see the world and make your impact on it, especially if you are recent CBA graduate Henry Fernandez (BBA in Management '03).

As an undergraduate, Fernandez took advantage of the College's many opportunities to study overseas and was actively involved in The Miami Benefit Club at FIU, a community service organization.

"Service taught me the benefits of giving back," said this Miami native. "And studying abroad was a great opportunity to learn about international business and to see the world."

With CBA Professor Randall Martin, Fernando went to Croatia in December, 2001, and to Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic in March, 2003.

"By getting involved and getting to know some of the faculty members more closely than I would have otherwise, I found that the opportunities just unfolded," said Fernandez, who in Spring, 2004, will be a student assistant on the study abroad program in Rome.

"Each trip abroad is different," he said, "but what we do on the trips is learn about local businesses and customs-basically, about how the world works in other places."

Fernandez said that "funny and interesting" things happen sometimes.

"During the Croatia trip, the group took a ferry to a very small, quiet village in Southern Italy one night for dinner," he said. "None of us spoke Italian, and no one in the village spoke any of the languages that we spoke, so we had to figure out how to communicate 'on the spot.'"

With The Miami Benefit Club at FIU, Fernandez said he learned the value of "giving back." The Miami Benefit Club at FIU exists to raise awareness about community service among the College's students.

The group, which is run entirely by students and faculty advisor Professor Robert "Dr. Bob" Hogner, currently is working to adopt a park from the City of Miami. They also execute projects with Habitat for Humanity and the Community Partnership for the Homeless.

After working with The Miami Benefit Club at FIU and touring Europe with his classmates, Fernandez is back on campus, pursuing a Master's of Public Administration through the College of Health and Urban Affairs' School of Policy and Management. After that, he said he hopes to attend a "Top 30" business school in the Northeast and pursue a career in international business, diplomacy, and foreign affairs.

For more information on the College's exciting study abroad programs, please visit the CIBER web site.

More information about The Miami Benefit Club at FIU projects also can be found online on the College's web site.