Mobility International USA Offers Externship to Study Abroad Alumnae


Manual wheelchair user in bright patterned shirt getting photo taken in study abroad setting

Are you a person with a disability who’s an alumnus of a volunteer  or study abroad program?

Would you like to create a community project that educates other people with disabilities about international education, so that they might have similar opportunities?

Does learning about a career in international education interest you?

Then you should apply for the Access to Exchange Externship, offered by Mobility International USA in collaboration with the U.S. Department of State.

Meet Extern Nadia Bom

During her junior year at Cornell, Nadia Bom studied disability history as an exchange student at Oxford. During that time she conducted research toward her senior thesis. She also traveled around Europe using a wheelchair and crutches. She benefited from the extensive disability support services at Oxford, as well as the assistance of her mother who accompanied her as a personal attendant.

For Bom, the experience was so life-changing that she wanted to encourage more people with disabilities like her to do the same. At the same time, she knew that the prospect of international travel could be intimidating, and much more so the idea of taking classes at a challenging world-class college like Oxford.

In fact, people with disabilities do have many concerns when it comes to study abroad and international travel. Will the housing be wheelchair accessible? How would they pay for the costs of a personal care attendant? Will it be possible to find accessible bathrooms? Will the university have disability support services?

When she heard about the Access to Exchange Externship, an opportunity for international exchange alumni with disabilities to conduct their very own outreach  project to their communities, Bom knew that this was her chance to make her mark. At the time, she had just been excepted to return to Oxford university to complete her master’s degree, and she was thinking about how she might share her experience with more disabled people. If people with physical disabilities could learn how she did it, maybe they would feel empowered to seek out their own international experience.

Bom had the idea to write a blog about her Junior year abroad at Oxford, as well as her upcoming experience as a grad student. She would write about what it was like to be a student at Oxford, describe her travels, and share her lessons learned with others. She submitted her proposal to the National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange, And within a couple months she made her dream a reality. Read her blog here.

Make Your Mark

Whether your idea is to write a blog, create a video series, record a podcast, present a webinar or organize a workshop at a local disabled people’s organization, the sky is the limit. To submit an application for the Access to Exchange Externship, locate the application form by going to the corresponding press release page.

People from the United States should apply for the outbound externship and people from other countries should apply for the inbound externship. Be prepared to share details including an outline, goals, a methodology for evaluating outcomes and a plan to provide access for all.

The Access to Exchange Externship includes funding support. Prospective applicants should view the corresponding press release for more information.


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