It would be hard to find someone more qualified for the position of adviser to students studying in foreign countries than Carol Fairweather.
The Dundee, Scotland native has lived in South Africa, Australia, Spain and Toronto for varying periods of time in her life.
“I’ve never forgotten my major culture shock,” said Fairweather. “I know what it’s like for people not much younger than I was to go abroad and be in a different culture- I know how scary it can be.”
Her expertise in the field stems directly from personal experience. Stepping off the plane from Scotland in 1966 with her husband, she had her first piece of pizza the second night in the states. She was 22.
“I can still smell it, all these years later,” she said. “They asked us how many pieces we wanted. Well, I don’t know, one or two pieces? We couldn’t get through the first one because we’d never eaten things like that before.”
Students planning to study abroad can benefit from advice from a fellow world traveler. She tells students that returning to one’s own country, just as she did in 1967, is often harder than adapting to a new culture.
“For some people, coming home is a lot harder. Home has changed. Your friends have changed, and you have changed,” said Fairweather in her subtle Scottish accent. “I came back after my first year in Houston and I couldn’t wait to get home. It was tough though, because I really didn’t fit anywhere. For a while you’re caught where you don’t belong in either place.”
Fairweather, in her eighth year with the university’s Study Abroad office, is no stranger to foreign study in colleges either. With 40 years of study abroad involvement under her belt, she believes she has truly found her calling in helping students study out of the country.
“I wake up in the morning and look forward to coming here,” she said. “All the lives that are touched and changed. It’s the most incredible job in the world. When you enjoy a job this much it isn’t a job anymore.”
Fairweather’s lifelong experience comes in handy especially now, after the Cherrington Global Scholars Program sent its inaugural group of students abroad last quarter. Though the days are hectic and packed with work, she still finds the work exciting and rewarding enough to keep coming back.
“There are so many exciting things that happen all day,” said Fairweather. “It’s like a whole mini university in one building.”
Fairweather’s dedication to students doesn’t end when they leave for their host country. When she is not awake, Fairweather sleeps with the emergency cell phone, that all abroad students and parents have the number to, on her nightstand. The phone, covered by a staff member 24 hours a day, has come in handy more than a few times.
“One Thanksgiving Day, a lady on the streets of Sevilla, Spain, found the DU information card in a wallet on the street. She called the number in the wallet because she didn’t want to call the police,” said Fairweather. “When we got the call, we called the program director in Sevilla. He was having dinner with the students that night, so within half an hour he had taken the student to the place where the woman worked and got her wallet back.”
Though the study abroad staff now boasts six members after having only two less than three years ago, Fairweather still carries the cell phone with her most of the time. Though the program did experience a large increase in students studying abroad over the last fall quarter, Fairweather still hopes to get the word out to still more students about the benefits of studying abroad.
“When employers ask if a student can function in the real world, the student abroad has already done that,” she said. “If a student says they are tolerant, open-minded and ready to face the world, how can they prove it? The student abroad has lived in another culture and survived.”
Fairweather has four children and four grandchildren, but still travels to Scotland frequently. Her husband, Graeme, is the head of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Sciences at the Colorado School of Mines.
