UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Schreyer Honors College, in partnership with the University Libraries and the College of the Liberal Arts, will host a global opportunities panel from 5 to 6:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 4, at the Foster Auditorium in Paterno Library. The program is free and all students are encouraged to attend.
The program is designed to provide students with an understanding of the various study abroad programs and opportunities available, and the panelists have extensive experience abroad and will provide insights about overseas careers and opportunities. These include:
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Mark Mattson is the global partnerships and outreach librarian in the Penn State University Libraries. Mattson works to build bridges between libraries at Penn State and Global Engagement Network partner institutions as well as support the overall internationalization and global engagement efforts of the University. His areas of research interest include international sister-library partnerships, comparative and international librarianship, the contribution of academic libraries to campus internationalization, global citizenship programming, libraries and intercultural dialogue, international student services, and librarianship in service of global priorities and goals.
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Chelsea Keen serves as a career coach who specializes in promoting global experiences and international internships to Liberal Arts students. Keen is passionate about encouraging students throughout their career journey and focuses on educating students about how to articulate the skills they've gained through international experiences to future employers.
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Laura Guay, a junior Schreyer Scholar majoring in biobehavioral health and French and Francophone studies, spent the last semester working in Senegal for a non-profit fighting for LGBTQ rights and working to combat HIV. Later, she interned at the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, to work on the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS relief. Guay has also been named a 2020 United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Fellow. Guay will work in the UNESCO headquarters for 6-12 months. There, she will focus on public health and its interaction with social and global improvement.
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Zoe Cole, a Schreyer scholar and Paterno fellow, will moderate the event. Cole is a senior majoring in history and philosophy who studied abroad in Barcelona, Spain, and interned for Divico Consultores, an international head-hunting consultancy. Later, she went to London to conduct research in the National Archives for her thesis on British pirates in the 18th century. She notes that her time abroad was “the most life-changing experience I have ever had” and encourages students to participate in a program or a fellowship that forces them to step out of their comfort zone and experience the world in a different way.
About the Schreyer Honors College
The Schreyer Honors College promotes academic excellence with integrity, the building of a global perspective, and creation of opportunities for leadership and civic engagement. Schreyer Honors Scholars total more than 2,000 students at University Park and 20 Commonwealth Campuses and represent 38 states and 26 countries. More than 14,000 scholars have graduated with honors from Penn State since 1980.