Student Profiles
Study Abroad Experience Adds Depth to Education
Dan Maltzman at the University of Wallongong,
about 50 miles south of Sydney, Australia,
where he is spending fall semester.
“Before I became a proud Minuteman, I spent two years in high school studying in the Netherlands at the American School in The Hague,” recalls Dan Maltzman ’07, a legal studies and political science major. “It was an amazing experience and fed my desire to study abroad again.” While that isn’t why Maltzman chose a major in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, it is a fact that SBS strongly encourages its students to study abroad for one or two semesters, in addition to fulfilling a Global Education Requirement. Experiencing another culture in all its complexity is a unique way to assimilate a different vantage point from one’s own heritage.
SBS firmly believes that study abroad often develops a higher level of maturity in students and is developing ways to make the experience a reality for as many students as possible. UMass Amherst students these days can study in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North and South America. The possibilities are enormous. This July Maltzman is departing for the University of Wollongong in Australia for a semester. And to help defray the costs, he received an Ansin Study Abroad Fellowship, which is funded by the Ronald M. Ansin Foundation for outstanding Social and Behavioral Sciences students at UMass Amherst. Twenty-three students received Ansin awards this year.
“Receiving the Ansin is very important to me,” says Maltzman. “It helps ease the burden and stress of going down-under, and I appreciate the Ansins’ acknowledgement of the importance of the study abroad experience. It adds to my sense of pride and confidence.”
Pride and confidence weren’t words that Maltzman used to describe himself prior to UMass Amherst. “I was an average high school student, and arrived on campus unsure and unconfident with no plans for the future. My experience here can be defined by one word: growth. My classes, professors and extracurricular experiences have transformed me. As I became engaged with the material, I evolved into a leader, and opportunities began to open up. I became a teaching assistant for Professor Gaitenby. I created a dispute resolution platform for the Inter-fraternal Council, and I became a stronger student. As a result, the future seems less scary!”
When Maltzman was a sophomore with no major, he began his search for a course of study in earnest. “I was attracted to legal studies because I expect to go to law school. And when I met the professors and reviewed the courses, my feeling that I’d get a strong foundation for that next step was confirmed. By the end of my sophomore year I had developed a passion for politics too, so I declared it as my secondary major.”
Maltzman notes that being a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon, as well as the Order of Omega Honor Society, has played a big role in honing his leadership skills and developing an understanding the importance of giving back to the community. As vice president of programming for Sig Ep, he organized community service events that raised more than $4,000 for various charities, and over 500 pounds of food and clothing for shelters in Amherst and Northampton. “Our fraternity also ushered every home football game last year, and some New England Patriots games too.” In short, Maltzman, who received the balanced man scholarship from Sig Ep last year for having “a sound mind and a sound body,” believes he has taken full advantage of his time in school to evolve into who he is today. “At UMass Amherst any student can find niche and opportunities that go beyond the classroom and their wildest dreams,” he says.
Down the road, Maltzman sees himself as a district attorney. “I want to fight for the state and give back to the community and those in need,” he says. “And I’d like to make it possible for others to have opportunities like I’ve had at UMass Amherst and at my next stop in Australia.”
June 30, 2006
