At Global Tea, Students Discuss the Value of Studying Abroad
Alina Starr ’25, second from left, poses with friends outside a dormitory in Kyoto, where she spent a semester studying abroad. (Photo courtesy of Alina Starr)
Kate Emory ’06 knows the value of studying abroad.
As the international student and scholar services coordinator at Chatham University, she knows the lifelong benefits that education in a new country can have—going all the way back to her own trip to Japan during her undergraduate studies at Chatham.
“I am a living, breathing cliche that studying abroad can change your life,” Emory said during Global Tea, a casual information session and meetup that the Office of International Affairs held in January for international students and Chatham students who’ve recently returned from another country.
In the latter category was Alina Starr ’25, who studied in Japan during the fall 2023 semester.
Starr started preparing to go to Japan before she realized it. She would ask her Japanese classmates in middle school about phrases from their language; she’d share words and ideas from hers in return. When she started at Taylor Allderdice High School in Squirrel Hill, she took Japanese language classes.
After starting her college studies at Chatham University—just a little more than a mile down the road from her high school alma mater—she knew exactly where she wanted to go for a semester abroad.
Talking to the Office of International Affairs was a natural first step. “They just steered me in the right direction to find the answer [to my questions],” she said. “They gave me the resources and they really encouraged me to do my own research.”
She reached out to them in 2022, but passport issues delayed her trip by a year. When she went to the historic capital of Japan, Kyoto, she was prepared to immerse herself. Classes took trips around the city and to different parts of Japan, like Tokyo.
“We had such a blast and I learned so much,” she said. “We went to three different museums, I think.”
Living in an international dorm, Starr met students from all over the world. She learned about Zen Buddhism from a monk; she powerlifted as part of a barbell club; and she visited different clubs at her university focused on things like kimonos, tea ceremonies, and flower arrangements.
But perhaps more than anything, she said she enjoyed going to karaoke with her friends. “It’s very big in Japan, and they take it very seriously,” she said. “Everyone has a good time.”
Starr had a longtime dream of visiting Japan, but she encouraged any Chatham students even remotely interested in travel to study abroad because of the structure and organization available through traveling in a university setting.
“It might surprise you how feasible it is,” she said. “I thought to myself, no matter what, I’m going. No matter how much it costs me, I will go abroad.
“But when I started looking into it, it became more and more possible, real, affordable even, especially with the scholarships colleges, universities, and, specifically, Chatham offer.”
She’s already making plans to go back to Japan for her spring break.
Mobashir Ahmed “Nabil” Chowdhury, MBA ’25, poses for a photo outside the Jennie King Mellon Library on Chatham’s Shadyside Campus. Chowdhury is an international student from Bangladesh. (Photo courtesy of Mobashir Ahmed Chowdhury)
Also perusing the drinks and snacks at January’s Global Tea was Mobashir Ahmed Chowdhury, MBA ’25, who started his studies at Chatham in the fall of 2023.
Chowdhury (he also goes by the nickname “Nabil”) obtained his bachelor’s degree in his home country of Bangladesh before spending a few years in the workforce.
He got a master’s degree in 2020, when he was 27, from North South University in Dhaka, the capital city.
But he felt he still had room to grow, more to learn, and he wanted to study overseas—maybe in the United States or Canada. When he was accepted to Chatham University, he decided he’d pursue his graduate studies in Pittsburgh.
“Pittsburgh seems really nice to me,” he said. “All my life, I have been a city guy.”
He said he likes Pittsburgh because of the ease with which he’s able to get around town, the smaller population size (a far cry from Dhaka, a megacity home to more than 10 million residents), and he enjoys going to school in the neighborhood of Squirrel Hill.
But despite his self-described affinity for urban living, Chowdhury spends his nights and weekends at Eden Hall Campus, where he lived in Orchard Hall.
“It feels like I’m in a retreat,” he said. (The picturesque land on which Eden Hall sits was a workers’ retreat for female employees of the Heinz Corporation in the early 20th century). On weekends, he’ll go on walks for miles just around the campus. “It’s a really nice space.”
In addition to the beauty of Eden Hall, Chowdhury said he appreciates Chatham’s smaller class sizes, which have allowed him to get to know his classmates. In larger schools, “you barely know each other, you don’t get to network with each other,” he said.
He’s also had a good time learning in his classes and getting work experience in Chatham’s physician assistant studies master program, where he helps with administrative tasks such as tracking hours required for students’ clinical rotations.
Once he graduates in 2025, Chowdhury said, he’d like to continue working in the U.S. for a few more years if he can.
Learn more about opportunities for international education at Chatham at chatham.edu. Undergraduate students participating in any summer 2024 study or internship abroad program may apply for a one-time opportunity grant of $500 by March 29, 2024.