Matthew Aronson seeing the Singapore sights during some study abroad down time.
Biomedical engineering student helps peers reach study abroad goals
5/9/2019
For Matthew Aronson, a junior majoring in biomedical engineering, his experience studying at the National University of Singapore during the spring 2018 semester was incredible. So good, in fact, it made him want to help other Penn State engineering students get the most out of their global learning experience.
As a result, Aronson became a Global Engineering Fellow. Participants in Penn State’s Global Engineering Fellows Program act as both ambassadors for College of Engineering study abroad programs and as peer advisers for other engineering students.
Aronson desire to become a Fellow was based on his own global learning experience. While overall the experience was positive, initially he ran into some unexpected issues.
“When I left for Singapore, I had a 24-hour delay because I missed my flight and when I got there, there was some confusion about what classes I was registered for,” he said. “Everything felt like it was going crazy.”
At first, Aronson wondered if it was an experience unique to just him, but he soon learned it was common. “I was so surprised that everyone had the same experience,” he said. “The classes not working out at first, flights being delayed, and so on. You had to be very on your feet and constantly figuring out what you're going to do, so you get frazzled. In the end, it worked out great. But after finding out other students had my same experience, it really made me wish that I had talked to students who had previously studied abroad and maybe planned better to avoid problems.”
Aronson now is that student who had previously traveled abroad, and part of his role as a Fellow is talking to students about what to do to enhance their study abroad experience. This includes helping other engineering students through the application process, beginning with ensuring the students match the correct program to their area of study and personal goals.
“I show the students different online resources, including what courses are available and what programs are available for various majors,” Aronson said. “As part of the Fellows program, I was surprised at all the opportunities for studying abroad. I show students that there are programs in places as varied as Switzerland, Singapore and Italy, so there's essentially a program that anyone can find that suits them. My goal is to help everyone find that program that can strengthen their education.”
In addition to helping students find the right program, Aronson offers advice on how to thrive while being far from home in a different culture.
“Being completely alone on the other side of the world with a 12-hour time difference is much tougher than your first week at Penn State,” he said. “There are communication barriers, different foods, different cultures, and so on. It's a shock at first. But being able to quickly accustom to that and integrate into the culture is an incredible experience that I want to help other students achieve.”
Aside from being a peer mentor, Aronson and other Fellows help to promote engineering study abroad programs by presenting at several student events each semester, such as first-year student seminars and study abroad fairs; holding office hours on the third floor of Kunkle Lounge to answer questions about study abroad opportunities; and visiting classrooms to talk to students about studying abroad. He learned best practices to promote the program in a one-credit class, ENGR 297 Special Topics, that focuses on global education.
In ENGR 297, Aronson learned about all the different programs available to Penn State engineering students, discovered details about how programs are directed to certain student educational needs, and heard a variety of guest lecturers. For example, one of the classes had a guest lecturer who is a university dean from Germany who discussed engineering education in Europe.
“The class helped me better share my study abroad experience because when I came back, I had so much on my mind. Given it was such an amazing experience, I thought ‘how do I put it into words,’” Aronson said. “I learned how to talk about the pre-planning, travel, finding courses to take, how to find interesting things to do and how you grow as an individual. It made it possible for me to talk about the study abroad program in a well-rounded way.”
Aronson said that while being a Fellow is about helping other students, his experience in the program has been full of personal benefits as well. He has learned skills he can apply in his career, such as simplifying and communicating complicated information and developing public speaking and networking skills.
“I started the program as a junior and I look forward to being a Fellow next year as a senior,” Aronson said. “It’s not just a really beneficial learning experience, it's also lots of fun.”
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