Foreign Finances

Financial aid is available to students at the University of Oklahoma who are looking to study abroad.

“Students can be awarded a variety of scholarships or use federal financial aid,” said Brooke Hammer, an Education Abroad advisor at OU. “If they use federal aid, they just have to be approved through our office.”

Hammer said there is a list of all the available scholarships online.

“We have different scholarships dedicated to all different kinds of programs,” Hammer said. “For example, there is the Gilman Scholarship that is available to those who are Pell grant eligible.”

Hammer said there are also scholarships that focus on non-traditional locations/areas of study, and underrepresented students. However, most students apply for the PITF scholarship: the Presidential International Travel Fellowship.

“It is a need-based fellowship,” Hammer said. “It typically covers us to 75% of your airfare if you’re awarded this scholarship.”

Private scholarships from third party providers are also available, but are harder to obtain, Hammer said.

“We encourage students to apply for in-house scholarships like the PITF,” Hammer said.

Stephanie Collier is a junior at OU majoring in International and Security Studies with a minor in Spanish. She is going to Argentina in the fall of 2013 and hopes to receive a scholarship to help out with her expenses.

“I’m waiting for the application process to open up,” Collier said. “As soon as that happens, I’m applying for every scholarship that I can.”

Collier said she doesn’t want to let money get in the way of her studying abroad experience.

“I’m so glad that OU has financial aid options for studying abroad,” Collier said. “It makes things like this easier for everyone to experience.”

Students interested in applying for financial aid must start the application process at least one semester in advance. The list of scholarships is available at http://www.ou.edu/content/cis/education_abroad/funding_study_abroad/scholarships.html.

Cherokee Ballard

PHOTO CREDIT: Brittany Belli

The News:

Cherokee Ballard and Britten Follett came to the University of Oklahoma last Wednesday to talk about their experiences in the field of investigative journalism. Both women worked on the Kelsey Briggs case and co-authored the book: Who Killed Kelsey?

The Impact:

“I’m a truth teller,” Ballard said. “And sometimes when you tell the truth you get shot.” Ballard and Follett were the only two reporters that stayed on the case. They wanted to get the truth about Kelsey’s death.

The Context:

“I was 24 when I started covering Kelsey’s case,” Follett said. “On Oct. 12, 2005, my boss came to me and told me there was a child death. At the time, I didn’t have a story to work on, so I went to cover it.” Follett and Ballard then teamed up to delve deeper into the story. That was when the idea to co-author Who Killed Kelsey occurred. “Sources told us information because they wanted the truth told, but not reported,” Follett said. Ballard said she and Follett just wanted to bring justice to Kelsey’s case. “One child death is too many,” Ballard said. “Kelsey should not be dead.”

The Human Dimension:

Follett said there was a lot of trust between the sources that talked to her when the cameras were off. “We promised our sources that we would not reveal what was said to us until we published our book,” Follett said. “We would have been violating that trust if we went and reported what we knew.”

What’s next:

After 25 years in investigative journalism, Ballard is now working for corporate America at Oklahoma Natural Gas. Follett has also left that field; she works as a marketing manager for Follett International. 

OU in Arezzo

PHOTO CREDIT: Brittany Belli

It’s one thing to get an internship in the United States, but what about an internship on a different continent? The University of Oklahoma offers a program that gives students a chance to intern abroad in Arezzo, Italy.

            Kristian Savic, an Education Abroad advisor, talked about more details of the program.

            “Students have the opportunity to spend time in Arezzo over the summer and intern with a variety of companies,” Savic said. “We have branches in engineering, Italian language, history, and art reconstruction.”

            Students also don’t need to have any prior experience with Italian, Savic said.

            “Think of it as just another OU campus, but in Italy,” Savic said.

            Savic said students should expect to spend about $1,000 per month in food, utilities, and other personal expenses.

            “While some people think that’s a little expensive, you should really take the time and go for it anyways,” Savic said. “The experience you’ll gain from this is absolutely priceless.”

            Savic said interning abroad is more useful to the current generation because American companies want to see kids do things out of the norm.

            “Most college kids intern in different states, and that’s great,” Savic said. “But nothing is like interning in another country. It’s scary to be in a new place, and companies will admire that you took that risk.”

            Cameron Newton is a freshman at OU with a major in history. Newton said he would love to be able to intern abroad at some point in his college career.

            “I heard through the grapevine about the OU in Arezzo program and was fascinated,” Newton said. “With me being a history major, it sounded like the perfect opportunity.”

            Newton said he thought this program was a great idea.

            “I like that OU is behind you all the way, so you’re not totally alone thousands of miles from home,” Newton said. “I can’t wait until I have enough experience here to go share what I know over there.”

            Students must have a minimum GPA of 2.5 to be considered for OU in Arezzo. They must also have two recommendation letters and complete the online application with Education Abroad.

PHOTO CREDIT: Brittany Belli