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"Rocky Goes Global" Calendars | Study Abroad Orientation Completed | WESL Conversation Mentors | Graduation Day for WESL

2009 "Rocky Goes Global" Calendars Still Available

The Office of Study Abroad is currently selling its 2009 “Rocky Goes Global” Study Abroad calendar. The calendar features photographs taken by WIU students during their study abroad program. Calendars are $10 each, and money raised from the calendar sale will go toward creating scholarships that will enable more WIU students to participate in study abroad programs. If you are interested in purchasing a calendar, call 309-298-2504 or email StudyAbroad@wiu.edu.

Study Abroad Pre-departure Orientation Completed

On December 2, students who plan to study abroad during the spring semester were required to participate in a Pre-departure Orientation where they learned about how to be successful students while abroad. Several speakers from various departments were present to give information about health and safety, financial aid, registration, and cultural adjustment. The study abroad advisers were also on hand to give information and answer questions. After the main orientation session, members of the study abroad student organization, WASA, met with students in small groups to answer questions and talk to their peers about what to expect from a study abroad experience.

WESL Conversation Mentors

During the 2008 fall semester, the international students enrolled in WESL (Western's English as a Second Language) Institute enjoyed weekly conversations with 20 volunteer conversation mentors from WIU and the Macomb area. The Conversation Mentors program was started 6 years ago by Lila Blum, former director of WESL and now one of the volunteer mentors. Since then, the program has provided a way for the WESL students to gain insights on American culture and to share their culture with their American mentors. It has also allowed them to get to know some of the people from the local community and establish friendships with them. The students and the mentors have been meeting each Tuesday afternoon for an hour of informal conversation in small groups on a variety of cultural topics. The program will continue in the spring semester, with the time and location for the conversation meetings still to be determined. Those interested in serving as a conversation mentor for the WESL students can contact Steve Kaesdorf at 309-298-1107 or email S-Kaesdorf@wiu.edu.

Graduation Day for WESL

Twenty-seven international students from several countries, including Saudi Arabia, South Korea, China, Indonesia, Mexico, Uzbekistan, India, Jordan, Turkmenistan, and Nepal, celebrated the successful completion of their coursework in academic English at WESL Institute during a graduation ceremony on December 18. It was held in the Heritage Room in the University Union. WIU president Al Goldfarb and WIU provost and academic vice president Jack Thomas were on hand to address and congratulate the WESL graduates. One of the students, Putu Mahadewi (Indonesia), also addressed the audience to share about her own and her classmates’ experiences in the WESL program. Having completed WESL, most of the graduates will begin their degree work at WIU next semester. Since its founding in 1977, the WESL Institute has awarded graduation certificates to more than 2,000 international students, with most going on for their degrees at Western, and then eventually returning to their homelands as Western alumni in distant locations around the globe.

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