Notes from the Field (Literally): PIM 66 IE Low Residency Student Ben Iverson

Greetings from Sioux Falls, South Dakota!  If South Dakota doesn’t conjure images of fields, I’m not sure what will.  But I assume that you’re reading this because you’re more interested in the international education field than in corn fields. 

For me, the Low-Residency MA in International Education has been a great fit.  To give you a little of my background – I spent a fair amount of time abroad as an undergraduate, as well as after graduation, and I knew that my career would eventually somehow involve international education.  Since returning to the States three years ago, I have been working in a job that I really love.  I’m currently the Assistant Director of Admission at Augustana College, my alma mater.  We’re a small school and I wear many hats – I work primarily with domestic students, but also help with international student recruitment, program development, study abroad advising, and a multitude of other administrative tasks. 

Since I enjoy my job so much, as well as being close to my family, and yes, I even enjoy many things (though not everything) about South Dakota – I was unwilling to give those things up for graduate school, if I could help it.  At the same time, I had a strong desire to learn more about the international education field.  I also wanted to obtain a Masters degree, which seems all-important for those who want to move forward in this field.  Finally, I wanted to improve my skills, knowledge and abilities to be able to better my school’s programs.  When I found the Low Residency program at SIT, it was the best of both worlds: I could keep my job and study in a fantastic program at the same time.  Plus, SIT emphasizes experiential learning and a personal, student-centered learning environment.  It was the perfect fit.

The LowRes program has challenged both my intellect and time management skills.  With a busy career, family, personal interests – just life, really – adding graduate level work seemed daunting at first.  The program has definitely caused me to focus, but in a very positive way.  One thing about an online course, naturally, is that you can work on things when you have time; not everyone in the class has to be working at the same time.  (Since students in our cohort span several time zones and continents, that wouldn’t make sense anyway.)  Additionally, the course material and the way it is presented, is so interesting and immediately applicable for me that it doesn’t seem like much of a burden to sacrifice a few evenings and weekends.

I’m encouraged by my professors and classmates, who are also working in a diverse array of ways in the field, to connect theory to practice – and to debate the nuances in between.  For me, nothing could be more useful.  Learning concepts, discussing them with others in the field, and then applying them to my current job has been an amazing experience.  What I’ve gained the most from, however, is undoubtedly the “reflective practice” phase of each semester.  It has forced me to think critically about many things that we do, often without thinking, at work.  After taking Theory, Practice, and Policy of International Education this fall, for example, one discussion about access issues caused me to start a discussion about some of our policies on campus.  Now, it looks as though we are on a path toward slow, but positive change as a result. 

Several members of the LowRes cohort and I recently joined several on-campus PIM students for an Intercultural Communication course in Nicaragua.  Through living with host families and our interactions with an incredibly diverse and dynamic set of speakers representing various interests in Nicaraguan society, we really got a good sense of what the culture is all about.  Again, it was great to see how the concepts we read about and discussed prior to and during the course play out in the Nicaraguan reality.  It was an invaluable experience academically, but also professionally.  I’ll be able to use what I learned in Nicaragua directly in my work.  It was fantastic to be able to connect with PIM students outside of international education as well.

I hope that my experiences will help you decide if the LowRes program is right for you.  I would be happy to share more if anyone has additional questions.  Please contact Admissions Counselor Natalie Merrill who can share my contact information with you.  Natalie.merrill@sit.edu

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