Staff Interview with Grace Morales

What attracted you to work with the International Exchange Office (IXO) team at the American University of Sharjah so soon after its founding?

I love connecting with people and I decided to work at the IXO since this would allow me to interact more with students, especially with a very diverse culture. I like to help and assist students to study abroad since there are a number of benefits they would gain out of it.

How have you contributed to shaping the IXO team and the span of the reach that the office now has?

Over the years, IXO has sent and received hundreds of incoming and outgoing students. I believe that I have contributed to make this happen. IXO also helped in adding more diversity to AUS as a whole, and has played a vital role in bringing AUS to worldwide recognition.

Describe a typical day at work for you.

A typical day at IXO would be advising students. There is always a constant stream of students dropping by the office to learn more about different study abroad programs. I try to impart the benefits of study abroad. I aim to be encouraging, to really give them all of the reasons to go and experience this once-in-a-lifetime chance.

How do you support students as the advisor and ISEP coordinator?

Being an advisor and ISEP Coordinator, I would say that I always lend students a hand and am as accommodating as much as possible. This is important to ease the process for students and take away worries that they may have.

This would not be all possible if not for the help of the “IXO Peer Advisors” who are assisting me. These are the student employees who have returned from their study abroad experience and are helping their peers to have this wonderful study abroad opportunity for themselves.

To mention a few of the support we give the students, are mentioned as follows:

Outgoing Students: In-depth advising that starts from a student’s initial interest, up to the time they will go abroad. We make sure that we provide them with their Pre-Departure Orientation and Fear Management to better prepare them for their study abroad experience.

Incoming Students: We are happy to be their one-stop-shop! We do everything for them, such as course registration, dorm application, obtaining student visa, etc.

What do you find most challenging about your position? Most rewarding?

Since I am the Advisor for both the incoming and outgoing students, at times, work can get out of hand and overwhelming.

Hard work pays off when students come back from their study abroad programs and have had an unforgettable, beautiful experience. Also, if I notice a shy student that comes back from studying abroad showing their new, mustered confidence, I feel that I have contributed a part in molding them to become a better person, and this is rewarding for me.

Are there any common concerns or questions that students come to you with? How do you respond?

For incoming students, one of their concerns would be about safety in the UAE. I always search a legit link that I could send them how safe UAE is. For instance, the World Economic Forum (WEF) had ranked UAE as the 22nd safest country in the world in 2017.

The outgoing students have common concerns about fear of being away from their family for the first time. As I have mentioned earlier, we do run a Fear Management prior to their departure for them. I try to also be supportive of them, reassuring them that everything will be alright.  We also have this Buddy Matching Program, where IXO pairs an outgoing student with a returning student from abroad, which serves as another support-resource, even a confidante, for students.

What qualities make the ideal study abroad student?

An ideal study abroad student, is someone who has passion for adventure, someone who is open to unfolding the unknown and bracing themselves for what is about to happen. They need to be ready for the adventure in learning, making new friends, and being away from their family/friends.

I’d also say that this person should have “sabr” (patience in Arabic). Students need this, especially since things sometimes don’t happen the way you expect them to. Resilience and being adaptable in embracing changes is also important. If things do not work out the expected way, be flexible.

If you have the passion for adventure, sabr (patience), and resilience in studying abroad, things will fall into places and students will have a positive outcome of of their study abroad experience.

What advice would you share with students hoping to study abroad?

If given the chance, go and study abroad. There are a number of benefits including personal development, learning a new language, immersion into a new culture, study and learn differently, and the opportunity to make new friends.

Why is it important for people to travel and experience new cultures?

We learn so much when we travel and experience a new cultures, a first-hand experience that we cannot learn from books. When you travel, you meet a new range of people. You connect with them, you learn from them, and they learn from you, too.

Travel broadens our perspective of the world, we learn how friendly people are on the other side of the globe.

What are  your hopes for the future of the IXO and the international education field?

It is one of the IXO dreams to hopefully require all AUS students to study abroad, just like in other universities abroad, as this will widen student’s horizons.

As for the international education field I hope to see it become more affordable so study abroad experiences can be more accessible to students.