Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture
Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

A newsletter for faculty, staff and students

September-October 2005 • Vol. 31, No. 5

Globe-trekking student gets international perspective

Carmen Albright is spending a year studying in three countries to obtain an international outlook on her studies in Bumpers College.

Carmen Albright checks out the stores along the busy Chun Xi Lu — “walking street” — shopping district in Chengdu, China. Albright, a junior agribusiness major from Ozark, spent part of the summer there in a study abroad program. She will study in Pau, France, this fall and in Accra, Ghana, in the spring.

Albright, a junior from Ozark with a major in agribusiness and a minor in global agricultural, food and life sciences, spent part of the summer in Chengdu, China. She is studying in Pau, France, this fall and will be in Accra, Ghana, during the spring semester.

“I wanted a broad perspective that will help prepare me for working in international agriculture,” she said. “I picked three countries that would give me perspectives from a developed nation, an undeveloped nation and a rapidly developing nation,” Albright said.

She arranged her trips through the University Studies Abroad Consortium, an association of study abroad programs from many universities.

While in China, Albright studied the history of the nation’s economy since the founding of the People’s Republic of China and the government of Chairman Mao Tse-tung. She also took a one-hour introductory course in Chinese language.

Her experiences in China strikingly exhibited the changes and challenges of rapid economic growth.

“There’s a lot of foreign investment in China and a lot of foreign companies have opened for business there,” Albright said. “The currency, called the yuan, is artificially tied to the U.S. dollar, but there is speculation that the government is reconsidering the tie.”

She also encountered a lot of curiosity about the United States. She recalled meeting a woman who was surprised to learn that Americans move freely about the country. Others were astonished to learn that Americans vote without knowing who the winner will be.

“People can vote in China, but the winners are typically known in advance, so many people do not vote,” Albright said.

Chengdu is a city of about 10 million people. Although a booming economy has increased the number of cars on the streets, many people still travel by bicycle, often in large groups.

“When you have a pack of bicycles ride past you while crossing the street, you really feel it — how crowded the city is,” Albright said. “It’s not like one or two bikers riding by; it’s like 20. And they all turn and look at the Americans, all of them smiling for a long way down the street.”

Albright saw lots of smiles in China.

“The people are very friendly,” she said. “They work very hard. But when they’re not working, they’re very laid back and friendly. They enjoy a very relaxed atmosphere that makes me want to be more like them.”

An apparent dedication to learning also inspired Albright.

“Seeing Chinese students in rooms without air conditioning, with wooden desks and lacking all the technology we have in our classrooms — it made me want to take my education as seriously as they do,” she said. “They’re in class every day, even staying between classes. I’ve realized how we take so many things for granted.”

The experience also taught Albright some things about herself.

“I discovered that I do appreciate my space,” she said. “People come in close to talk to you, and take your arm to get your attention. I always waited for the least crowded bus. The sense of personal space there is very different.”