Local black high school students gathered on Monday morning to learn about the necessary… Local black high school students gathered on Monday morning to learn about the necessary steps in the progression from high school to college and the benefits of expanding their higher education to an international level.

The University Center for International Studies’ Area Studies Centers presented a program titled “International Connections: Planning For Your Future” aimed to inspire and educate black high school students about the array of cultural and linguistic opportunities that are open to college undergrads.

Gina Pierce, assistant director for Russian and Eastern European studies, said this event occurs annually and receives funding from the U.S. Department of Education.

“Our primary focus is to make students aware of international studies programs,” Pierce said, “and we also hope some of them decide to come to Pitt.”

Shawn Wells, a part-time professor of Anthropology at Pitt, said she has possessed an interest in foreign language since her early childhood and took advantage of study abroad opportunities to cultivate her passion.

“It’s really exciting to be able to conceptualize the world in a different language,” Wells said.

Jerome Branch, a professor in the Department of Hispanic Languages and Literatures, spoke about a survey taken of high school students that showed roughly half of all black male students in Pittsburgh do not earn a high school diploma. He encouraged the students in the audience to strive to be part of the top 50 percent and take advantage of what college can offer culturally.

“Foreign language offers us a bridge to all those millions of people in the world who speak other languages,” Branch said. “Culture travels around because it’s a global economy.”

Michelle Talbert-Horsey, a career consultant from the College of General Studies, told the students that internationalizing their education and learning another language will be beneficial upon entering the work force in such a culturally diverse nation.

“You definitely want to move beyond your high school and your neighborhood here in the city,” Talbert-Horsey said.

The students separated into three rotating discussion groups, The Global IQ, Global Professional and A World of Possibilities, to speak with the panel members and college students with study abroad experience on a more intimate basis.

Eliada Nwosu, a doctoral student in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, shared with the students in the Global IQ group her experience in South Africa as a black student in a city that had an apartheid system of government until a few years ago.

“You learn so much from the comfort and discomfort you experience in a foreign culture,” Nwosu said, “I really learned about the progress being made in South Africa in terms of racism against black people.”

In the Global Professional group, the students discussed the languages they are currently studying in high school and the ways in which knowledge of these particular languages and cultures may apply to various fields of work.

The World of Possibilities group focused on the students’ particular passions and whether they have hopes of traveling internationally in the future.

Darrell Williams, a senior political science major at Pitt, shared his experience of studying abroad in Spain.

“The academics, the people, the culture, the partying – it was the most beautiful experience of my life,” Williams said.