8 Reasons You Should be a CEA Alumni Ambassador

What happens after you return home from your study abroad journey? You’ve got great stories to tell about your amazing time studying abroad, helpful tips you learned firsthand (maybe the hard way!), and insight about how this experience impacted you. 

 

So now what? 

 

Join the CEA Alumni Ambassador team! There are so many reasons why we think you should join the team, but instead we’ll let some of our current CEA Alumni Ambassadors share their perspective about the program!

"How has the ambassador experience helped you since you've returned [from study abroad] and with your future career goals?"

Danielle O'Leary: "I can wholeheartedly say that the CEA Alumni Ambassador Program provided the ideal solution for my London homesickness: the opportunity to share my travel stories with others while inspiring students to take the risk and study abroad! Not only did the program assist me with reentry culture shock, but my position as an Ambassador additionally aided me in discovering a new future career path. Prior to my work as an Ambassador, I rarely considered the importance of aspiring toward a career that I was passionate about. If there is one lesson I have taken away from this position, it is to always pursue a career that coincides with your passions and values. I have come to realize that finding a livelihood that you love is far more rewarding than any amount of money. The Ambassador Program also showed me that is it okay to be homesick for a place that I once considered foreign. By conversing with other study abroad alumni, I found that "home" is not necessarily where you were born or where you currently reside; home is where your mind finds peace and your heart finds happiness. I can't thank CEA enough for giving me this opportunity to promote something I am so deeply passionate about. Studying abroad changes lives, and it undoubtedly changed mine."

Tanner Skilton (Paris Spring '13), veteran  Ambassador at Salve Regina University

Tanner Skilton: "My experience as an Ambassador has greatly helped my career path and my job search/interview process. This internship has given me more experience in the fields of marketing, sales, distribution, and promotion, which is directly related to my career in Business."

Veteran Ambassdor, Taylor Stoeckler  (Alicante & Prague Summer '13, Alicante Spring '14) at the Iowa State University study abroad fair

Taylor Stoeckler: "When I returned home, I felt like I was annoying my friends and family by constantly talking about Spain, but being an Ambassador allowed me to share my experiences with students who truly are interested in what I have to say. It is very rewarding knowing that I had an influence on other students' decisions to go abroad and that they can use my experiences to create their own lifetime memories. As for my future, there has been no better experience than the Ambassador program to develop and practice my interpersonal skills that many employers look for today in college graduates. I feel ready to walk into a room full of professionals and sell myself to land my dream job based on the confidence I gained from the Ambassador program."

Associate Ambassador, Patrick Gradus (Prague Fall '13),  presenting at St. Norbert College

Patrick Gradus: "[The Ambassador Program] helped encourage my professional writing and accountability, while connecting with other people who loved study abroad as well. My workload has been greatly assisted by the professional advice and development offered throughout my tenure [as an Ambassador]. Specifically, the advice concerning cover letters and LinkedIn account preparation. The career development aspect of this internship has been phenomenal. This internship has been one of the best decisions I've made since returning to the states."

Tara Nuccitelli (Barcelona Fall '13), Ambassador at Marist College

Tara Nuccitelli: "The ambassador position was a wonderful platform to share the stories and insight I learned abroad with prospective students whose position of confusion and wonder I was once in myself. In regards to my future career goals, come this fall I will be venturing to my second home, Spain, to teach English at a primary school in Galicia! After a quick hiatus to graduate from college, I am eager to resume my journey abroad and continue striving toward developing a more global outlook on life."

Shane Heckman: "The ambassador experience has allowed me to share my experiences and passion for traveling with other students. At Penn State's campus, CEA is somewhat of an unknown program and after the awesome experience I had, I wanted to advocate for it. I remembered what it was like as a student to have no idea when or where or even if I really wanted to study abroad. I figured everything out on my own but really didn't have another student to talk to. I wanted to be that resource for other people."

Josh Lagunez: "First, [the Ambassador Program] helped me stick with the CEA family a little longer. Second, encouraging people to study abroad through presentations, promotions, and one-on-one interactions has really improved my communication ability."