UA Graduate to Continue International-Flavored Studies Through Rotary Scholarship

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Emily Smith’s looks often make her stand out in a crowd. It’s not that the blond, blue-eyed University of Alabama graduate – with the most American of last names – couldn’t pass for the proverbial girl next door. The reason Smith’s physical appearance is so often striking is because her door — and the one next to hers — is often half a world away from her native United States.

“I’m not sure where this interest came from, but I’ve always been fascinated by other countries and other languages,” said the Pennsylvania native who completed her high school years at Hoover High School. Since enrolling at UA in 1999, Smith, who has studied five languages and is fluent in Spanish, has spent time in Brazil, Spain, Portugal, Germany, India, Mexico, England, Canada and Colombia.

Now, thanks to a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship of up to $25,000 for the 2003-04 academic year, Smith, who graduated from UA this month, will soon move to Caracas, Venezuela where she’ll begin work on a master’s degree in international relations at La Universidad Central, in Caracas. She’ll serve as a good will ambassador during her stay, visiting Rotary Clubs in Venezuela to make presentations on Alabama, its people and its top issues.

As an undergraduate at UA, Smith managed to work in her many international trips during holiday breaks from school and during the summers, all while keeping a 4.0 grade point average, with a double major of journalism and Spanish. She recalls attending a religious parade in India, where her fair skin and blond hair made her the focus — even of those riding the floats.

“The village people never see Americans. Little kids were coming up to me and touching my skin,” she said. Her trips were funded primarily through travel grants and academic scholarships she won, part-time jobs, including her work as a free-lance journalist, and some assistance from her parents.

Smith typically lived with host families during her travels, which cut down on expenses and enabled her to get a truer picture of what it was like to live in various countries. Her trips weren’t of the sightseeing variety.

“I hate tour buses,” she says. Throughout her India visits, taken during a time when that region was one of the world’s political hotspots, she was a guest teacher at an English and public speaking school. But Smith’s international lifestyle has not been limited to her UA breaks. She was elected president of UA’s International Student Association, a first for an American and a first for any woman.

The “adopted international student” said when she was in high school she had not anticipated attending a major, state university.

“Before coming to UA, I didn’t want to come to a big state school, but I’m really thankful I did because at The University of Alabama, I’ve really found a global community here. The international population, those are the people I spend all of my time with. I never would have thought that before.”

Smith, who indicates she’ll likely later pursue a doctorate, wants to one day combine her love of writing with her love of international affairs.