{"id":24876,"date":"2015-09-12T16:59:39","date_gmt":"2015-09-12T21:59:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/?p=24876"},"modified":"2015-09-12T16:59:39","modified_gmt":"2015-09-12T21:59:39","slug":"schnitzel-beer-and-marketing-your-study-abroad-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/2015\/09\/schnitzel-beer-and-marketing-your-study-abroad-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Schnitzel, Beer, and Marketing Your Study Abroad Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Classroom<\/a>This past summer I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to participate in Marquette University Law School\u2019s summer program in Giessen, Germany<\/a>.\u00a0 The program, run jointly with the University of Wisconsin Law School and Justus Liebig University in Giessen, provides Marquette students with the opportunity to study a variety of international law topics at a foreign university with classmates from around the globe.\u00a0 Course offerings this past summer included Comparative Law, International Economic Law & Business Transactions, International Intellectual Property Law, and the Law of Armed Conflict.\u00a0 The courses were taught by both American and German professors over the course of a (somewhat intense) four week period that included weekend excursions to Munich and Berlin.\u00a0 While the subject matter of the classes was incredibly interesting, this was further magnified by the international make-up of the student body.\u00a0 My classmates this past summer hailed from 17 different countries including the United States Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Germany, Spain, Moldova, Turkey, India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, South Korea, China, Benin, Senegal, Cameroon, and Ethiopia.\u00a0 The discussions and conversations we had, both in and out of the classroom, provided insights about international legal issues that would be difficult to duplicate outside of such an experience. Not only was I able to learn about international, German, and EU law, but I was also able to gain a better understanding of US law.<\/p>\n

The value of a study abroad experience, both in terms of the substantive knowledge gained as well as the \u201csoft\u201d skills developed, is likely to be clear to someone who teaches or participates in such a program (see Professor Fallone\u2019s semi-exhaustive list of ten reasons why one should study abroad<\/a>).\u00a0 However, those less familiar with international study experiences may not always ascribe the same value or benefit to study abroad programs.\u00a0 This can be problematic for law students who hope to show potential employers that their time spent studying overseas was more than just an excuse to sample copious amounts of schnitzel and beer.\u00a0\u00a0 While CALI awards, clerkships, internships, pro bono work, and participation in law review or moot court are all ways that students have traditionally distinguished themselves to potential employers, the same has not been true for participation in study abroad programs, which are a relatively new phenomena in the law school curriculum.<\/p>\n

It is important to note that international study experiences do not just benefit those students who hope to someday practice law in an international setting.\u00a0 According to Cheryl Matherly, the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs at Rice University, \u201cmost new graduates will join the ranks of the \u2018domestic internationals\u2019.\u201d\u00a0 She writes, in a report titled \u201cImpact of Education Abroad on Career Development<\/a>\u201d for the American Institute for Foreign Study, that \u201c[i]n a global workplace, most employees will continue to live and work at home, but will use technology to customize\u2026services for clients worldwide\u2026and collaborate on projects with overseas offices.\u00a0 New graduates will be immersed in many foreign cultures as part of their jobs without ever setting foot overseas.\u201d\u00a0 A 2009 study by the Philadelphia Bar Association investigating the globalization of the legal profession further demonstrates this point.\u00a0 In the study, 67.5% of the responding lawyers, sampled from a wide variety of practice areas and firm sizes, reported having worked \u201con a legal matter within the past year that required them to have some knowledge of foreign and\/or traditional law.\u201d\u00a0 The study concludes that \u201cit logically follows that these lawyers need to have the professional skills required to access [international] law and effectively communicate and interact in a professional and culturally appropriate manner with foreign nationals they are encountering as clients, witnesses, coworkers, opposing counsel, and perhaps decision-makers.\u201d<\/p>\n

So how does one\u00a0go about \u201cmarketing\u201d their international study experience?\u00a0 Noting a study abroad experience can certainly distinguish your r\u00e9sum\u00e9 and provide a topic of conversation during interviews.\u00a0 An attorney familiar with the hiring process agreed that \u201cany unique experience has the potential to enhance future experience.\u201d\u00a0 The challenge, this attorney contends, \u201cis showing how that experience applies to the particular job one is seeking.\u201d\u00a0 He cautions that this does not mean that you should \u201cpresent the foreign studies as a specialized training that would allow you to jump immediately into, say, negotiating a contract with a foreign company.\u201d\u00a0 Instead, the marketing of an international experience should focus on how these studies helped to develop good legal fundamentals and good character.<\/p>\n

According to Matherly, \u201c[i]t is simply not enough to seek an international experience \u2013 the experience itself has little value for an employer.\u00a0 The savvy job seeker must be able to speak about this experience in terms of the transferable skills that he or she developed while abroad and how they can be applied to the workplace.\u201d\u00a0 When considering the opportunities and challenges present in any international study experience, it is easy to develop a list of such skills.\u00a0 Successful participation in a study abroad program requires a student to further develop their communication skills, listening skills, interpersonal skills, self awareness, relationship building skills, patience, tenacity, problem solving skills, creativity, and (perhaps most importantly) a sense of humor, amongst other many other skills.<\/p>\n

I found my time in Germany to be an exceptionally valuable experience.\u00a0 Classes taught by professors from a variety of backgrounds and legal cultures helped me to both to learn new material as well as to think about what I had already learned in new ways.\u00a0 A classroom that was truly a global community led to interesting discussions that introduced me to new ideas and also allowed me to reconsider my feelings and beliefs on a wide variety of legal, economic, and cultural issues.\u00a0 The extra-curricular trips to Munich, Dachau, Nuremberg, and Berlin provided not only a fascinating examination of Germany\u2019s past, but also a view into how that country, and the world around it, has moved on from the horrors of World War II and the Cold War.\u00a0 \u00a0And of course, there\u2019s also the schnitzel and beer.<\/p>\n

Photos: (top) The classroom at Justus Liebig University in Giessen; (below) The courtroom where the Nuremberg War Crime Trials were held.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Nuremberg<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This past summer I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to participate in Marquette University Law School\u2019s summer program in Giessen, Germany.\u00a0 The program, run jointly with the University of Wisconsin Law School and Justus Liebig University in Giessen, provides Marquette students with the opportunity to study a variety of international law topics at 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