Scorpions and Elephants Wow Study Abroad Student in Thailand

When Alana Laureano ’16 got the opportunity to study abroad in Thailand, accepting was a no brainer.

“Why not discover a land that you have absolutely no knowledge about, and hopefully by the end of your program you are absolutely sure that you have learned and experienced everything that country has to offer,” said Laureano, who prior to spending this fall semester there had never met a Thai person or even tasted Thai food.

Laureano is studying abroad with the help of the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program. Out of the 2,700 applications for the 2014 academic year, Laureano was one of the 800 outstanding students selected for this competitive and selective award. The program offers grants to students who have been traditionally underrepresented in education abroad who choose a non-traditional destination. All recipients carry out a Follow-on Service Project that promotes international education and the Gilman Scholarship Program at the students' home institution or in their home community.

Once in Thailand, it didn’t take long for Laureano to discover a local delicacy — scorpions on a stick.

“The taste was awful,” she said. “The face you’re making now, that is exactly the face I made when I ate it.”

Riding elephants bareback through the mountains of Chang Mai more than made up for the less than delicious street food, and exposed her to conservation of elephants.

“It was one of the most amazing feelings,” she said of caring and connecting with the peaceful giants.

Laureano, of Cleveland, OH, is an international business and marketing major who chose UT because, out of the schools she was considering, “UT was the only school that required the international majors to either study abroad or take an internship abroad, which ultimately would aid me in the learning experience as well as understanding what it takes to conduct business internationally.”

She is studying Thai language and culture as well as business courses like marketing management and sustainable marketing at Mahidol University. She is observing the buying power of the Thai people and making notes of the basic business practices. Her career goal is to work for an American company abroad, or at least one that requires a lot of travel.

“Learning a culture firsthand that is different than your own can help you become more sensitive to those situations when they arise back home,” Laureano said. “I hope that this experience humbles me more than I am already. Seeing life in the emerging world can make you appreciate all that you have at home.”