Thursday March 28th, 2024 11:45AM

Brenau student ambassadors in China this week

By AccessWDUN staff

Brenau University sent 10 students to Anhui Province in Eastern China near Shanghai this week to act as ambassadors for the university and its various +2 programs with Anhui Normal University.

The 2017 Student Ambassadors to China are Amanda Smith, senior from Cumming; Erin Henderson, senior from Snellville; Kaleigh McIntyre, senior from Homer; Laura Burke, junior from Montgomery, Alabama; Madilynn Peck, senior from Gainesville; Mary Rose Gibson, junior from Powder Springs; Melody Hayman, sophomore from Hiram; Quonna Holden, senior from Toccoa; Sommer Stockton, junior from Hoschton; and Tia Daniels, senior from Arnoldsville.

Brenau enrolled the first students majoring in early childhood education in a 2+2 agreement with Anhui Normal University, based in Wuhu, in the 2016-17 fall term. The second cohort from that program is expected to arrive in Gainesville in August.

These 2+2 agreements allow Chinese students to complete the first two years of the program at their home institution and the second two years at Brenau. Upon completion, they receive diplomas from both universities.

This is the second year Brenau has sent current students to Anhui, where they meet with faculty and students in the program at Anhui Normal, often exchanging gifts from their respective countries.

The purpose of the ambassadors is to give the Chinese students a familiar face when it is time for them to begin their studies at Brenau. Many of the ambassadors will live with the students when they arrive, and they will assist with cultural differences and gaining familiarity with the campus.

“I’ve really enjoyed getting to know the students that are already here from last year’s cohort,” said Gibson, a junior dance major. “I’ve made good friends with them. More than that, I’m so passionate about Brenau. I think it’s a great place and I want everyone here to have a good experience. So I’m happy to be someone who can help others who may have difficulties being integrated into our college experience.”

Both Gibson and Holden, a senior organizational leadership major, had never left the country before flying to China. Holden said she was most looking forward to experiencing a new culture.

“I love to travel, and I’m looking forward to seeing the differences between their culture and ours in the United States,” Holden said. “I think it’ll be really interesting.”

Stockton, meanwhile, has traveled to 17 different countries but never to China.

“I’m looking forward to seeing and experiencing something I’ve never fully experienced before,” she said. “I’ve learned a bit about their culture from the Chinese students who have already been here, but it is something else to be immersed in their culture. I’m also so proud of Brenau, and I’m ready to welcome a whole new group of students and help them experience our school.”

The ambassadors left for China Sunday, May 7, with Jordan Anderson,​ director of international students and programs​.

In addition to the early childhood education program, Brenau has a 2+2 agreement with ANU for English majors, scheduled to begin in 2018, and a separate agreement with Anhui University of Chinese Medicine – based in Hefei – for an undergraduate nursing program.

Brenau also announced plans to offer an undergraduate degree in environmental design – an offshoot of Brenau’s long-standing interior design undergraduate and graduate programs – for students who do not require U.S. interior design professional certification in their careers. ANU plans to begin enrolling students for the China portion of the program – the first two-year period– as early as the fall 2017 term.

Finally, Anhui Business College, also based in Wuhu, is the third Brenau +2 Partner Institution as of April 2017. This “3+2” agreement enables Chinese students who have completed the three-year program at their home institution to transfer to Brenau as juniors and complete Bachelor of Business Administration degrees in two years. The students will select specialization in finance, organization management or accounting.

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