Study abroad opportunities take Susquehanna students around the globe and broaden their perspectives in ways that employers find valuable, say Christopher Romanosky '02 and Mary Hennighan '03.

Christopher Romanosky graduated in May 2002 and promptly returned to Dijon, France, where he had interned through Susquehanna's study abroad program. The internship gave Romanosky just the right contacts he needed to land a job in Dijon.

Senior Mary Hennighan, who has spent a summer in Quebec, Canada, another in Mexico and a semester in France, says countless opportunities can arise from studying abroad.

In particular, it makes graduates more marketable in today's competitive workforce. "Just seeing that someone had the interest and courage to spend time in another country tells an employer that she or he is most likely open for challenges, prepared for curve balls and organized enough to have returned in one piece," Hennighan said.

Foreign study opportunities at Susquehanna range from two-week Focus programs to a semester in London for Susquehanna business students to a full year overseas. Students can choose study opportunities in just about every location imaginable. Their destinations have ranged from Europe, Canada and Mexico to remote locations such as Australia, Russia, China, and Bali.

But regardless of their destinations, most students who study abroad share insights they otherwise may not possess, says Scott Manning, assistant professor of French and Italian and coordinator of the International Study Programs.

By being immersed in another culture, they realize people in other countries think and act in very different ways. "When students see this they begin to understand their own way of doing things as a factor of where they live," Manning said.

They also learn to be more self-reliant, and think more individually about themselves and their beliefs, Manning said. "Many of these students feel very empowered when they come back from study abroad because they have really done something on their own," he said.

London + Business = Great Opportunity

James Brock, dean of Susquehanna's Sigmund Weis School of Business, is spending the spring semester in London, England, directing the school's study abroad program.

Established in the fall of 1995, the Sigmund Weis School of Business London program is open to junior business majors and minors at Susquehanna. Run by SU business faculty, the 16-week intensive program offers students the courses they need for graduation while still allowing them optimal time for travel.

Prior to his departure, Brock said he was "absolutely thrilled" about directing the London program this semester. Former program directors reported that the students "grow right before your eyes," Brock said.

They learn about international business practices and how to appreciate other cultures, but they also learn a lot about themselves, Brock said. One student summed it up best when she told him, "I learned that I had really underestimated myself."

Assistant Professor of Geological and Environmental Sciences Jennifer Elick

Jennifer Elick, an assistant professor of geological and environmental sciences at Susquehanna, received an unexpected birthday present on May 24, 2002, while exploring the rock formations of northeastern Pennsylvania.

While visiting Wyalusing Rocks, a mass of cliffs and roadside exposures owned by the East Delaware Valley Native American Tribe in Bradford County, Elick discovered the jaw fossil of a fish that lived approximately 350 million years ago, long before dinosaurs roamed the earth. Straight out of the Devonian Period, the jaw belonged to a prehistoric carnivore known as Sarcopterygiian, or lobe-finned fish.

Elick, who received her Ph.D. in geology from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and joined the Susquehanna faculty in 2000, is a sedimentologist and petrologist who specializes in paleoenvironmental analysis of ancient terrestrial environments.

With the tribal council's blessing, Elick spent the next two months crawling over Wyalusing Rocks, looking for more evidence of prehistoric plants and organisms. During that time, she found an array of fossilized remains predating the dinosaurs.

On the last leg of her research, Elick discovered a large crawling trace fossil unlike any other. The trace-maker, she theorizes, was a semi-buoyant, juvenile Sarcopterygiian, a primeval predator lurking among the vegetation of cloudy, clay-rich streams waiting for its prey. The three-meter-long fossil is the only trace fossil of an amphibian's ancestor known to exist.

Tracy Tyree carves turkey at SU's annual Thanksgiving dinner.

In September, Tracy Tyree, a college administrator from Georgia, became Susquehanna University's new dean of student life. Today, five months into the job, she couldn't be happier. "Susquehanna University is a wonderful place to call home," she said. "The campus community has been so welcoming and supportive, helping me get settled and up-to-speed as quickly as possible."

Tyree came to Susquehanna from Mercer University in Macon, Ga., where she served four years as the director of the First-Year Experience and Academic Advising Center.

Before that, Tyree had been the director of student activities and leadership programs at Lynchburg College in Virginia and assistant coordinator for residence life at Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind.

As Susquehanna's dean of student life, Tyree is responsible for administering the student life programs of the university, with particular emphasis on fostering a vibrant environment for student development and learning, and creating a caring community in which students achieve responsible independence and concern for others.

Tyree said she has enjoyed acquainting herself with students, whom she describes as "bright, engaged and fun."

"Having attended a variety of programs, meetings and activities sponsored by student organizations, I am struck by the amazing breadth of opportunities available to students," she said.

For information on the choir's tour, contact Student Choir Manager Francis Anonia at 570-372-4295.

Mike Bowman '03

Susquehanna University senior quarterback Mike Bowman has been named the Verizon College Division Football Academic All-American of the Year after earning first-team Academic All-America honors from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

A mathematics major with a secondary education minor, Bowman is the top-ranked student in the Susquehanna senior class with a perfect 4.0 cumulative grade-point average. He is the second Susquehanna football player in the last three years to earn College Division Academic All-American of the Year honors, which is presented to the team member who receives the most total votes. Offensive lineman Dave Wonderlick '01 received the award in 2000.

"We are extremely proud of what he has done. This honor is the perfect way for Mike to close out his career at Susquehanna," said 13th-year head coach Steve Briggs. "From the moment he came to our program, Mike has done everything asked of him both on the field and in the classroom, and as a coach you can't expect anything more than Mike has done for our team and our school."

The 6-0, 184-pound Bowman hails from Northumberland, Pa., and is a graduate of Shikellamy High School. At Susquehanna, he was a two-year captain and a four-year starter, with a career record of 19-16 in 35 starts. He established program records for completions (609), attempts (1,169), yards (8,160) and touchdowns (63), ranking second in Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) history in completions, attempts and yards while placing fifth in career touchdowns.

Bowman has been named to the Dean's List every semester at Susquehanna and earned both Presidential and Pennsylvania Science and Technology scholarships. He has served as a math tutor and has completed two education externships. He is also the borough assessor for Northumberland and has served as a volunteer football and basketball assistant coach at Shikellamy High School.

The Crusaders field hockey team, under 28th-year head coach Connie Harnum, advanced to the NCAA Division III tournament for the second time in four years in 2002. The team finished 17-4 overall and 6-1 in the Commonwealth Conference.

Senior Leah Bailor was named a second-team All-American by the NFHCA after setting school records with a conference-leading 22 goals, assists (12), and points (56) in a season. She also holds career records in all three categories with 51 goals, 35 assists and 137 points.

Senior Katie McKeever was named a third-team All-American after finishing her season with 11 goals and three assists for 25 points to rank third on the squad in both goals and points. McKeever ended her Crusader career ranked third in goals (32), fifth in assists (13) and fourth in points (87).

Fourth-year head women's soccer coach Jim Findlay was selected Coach of the Year after leading the Crusader women's soccer team to the first playoff berth in the program's nine-year history and an appearance in the Commonwealth Conference finals. In a program record, junior goalkeeper Melissa Karschner, junior defender Lauren Haner and sophomore forward Lindsay Nevins were all named first-team All-Conference while senior midfielder Kristin Abernethy was a second-team selection. As a group, they helped the Crusaders to an 8-8-3 overall record and second place in the Commonwealth Conference with a 4-1-2 league mark.

Each February, SU Admissions welcomes high-school-age students of color to an overnight event called "Celebrating Our Cultures." "This event is a wonderful opportunity for minority students to get a 'real' perspective on all that SU has to offer," says coordinator Raushanah Kareem. "For many minority students, COC is the first time they have visited our campus … the idea is to get the prospective students involved in as many activities as possible so that they have the chance to interact both formally and informally with faculty, staff, and current students."

Participants in the COC event spend a night in a residence hall with a current student who acts as a host, showing their prospective student the campus and including them in their everyday activities - from eating in the cafeteria, to intramural sports, to music recitals and concerts - and those are just a few of the activities that a visiting student gets to glimpse. Visitors also attend classes in the subject area of their choice.

One of the highlights of the spring Celebrating our Cultures event is the Race Relations Forum, a debate on a topic that relates to race and society by a panel composed of faculty members and current students. This often proves to be a lively hour of discussion, with many students - visiting and current - contributing to the dialogue.

Here's a sampler of a few of the things going on around campus this semester…

1. The dedication concert in honor of our new Center for Music and Art.
2. A reading by Mary Karr, a published author and recipient of many literary honors and prizes, whose work has spent considerable time on the New York Times Bestseller List.
3. A theatrical staging of Lillian Hellman's adaptation of The Lark (L'Alouette), a retelling of the story of Joan of Arc.
4. Philadanco, or the Philadelphia Dance Company, performing a program of modern, innovative American dances.
5. An exhibit of Edward Steichen's Vanity Fair photographic portraits of Hollywood celebrities in S.U.'s Lore Degenstein Gallery.