While reading the online edition of The Carthage Press Thursday, I was not surprised to see another headline involving the budget crunch at Missouri Southern. As I read the article, I was appalled to see the cuts made to the International Studies department, especially the death of the Oxford Program.

I realize that many other departments are making sacrifices. As a former student and taxpayer, I am theoretically in favor of spending cuts whenever possible, but because of my experiences as a Southern student, I know that there are some things that cannot be measured through a cost-benefit analysis. Though some expenditures may not result in a monetary capital return for the University, these expenses return social capital and provide immeasurable benefits to the community and the lives of students affected by them. 

I will not digress into my astonishment that the administration apparently believes the benefit of an athlete traveling to Omaha is worth three times the benefit of a student traveling abroad.

When I was a student at MSSU, it seemed that the International Mission was our cornerstone and the feather in our caps. It was something of which the Administration was obviously proud, though at the time I was oblivious to this pride.

As I noted while addressing the incoming honors students at the 2007 signing ceremony, when I became a student at MSSU, I saw the international study requirement of the Honors Program as ridiculous hurdle. In fact, during my freshman year I honestly hoped for the sort of budget cut that is currently happening, just so I wouldn't have to leave my lifelong home of Southwest Missouri. Luckily, that didn't happen, and in my sophomore summer, my opinion changed.

The prestige of the Oxford Program had always appealed to me, and when it became obvious that I was not going to be able to dodge the requirement, I applied for it. I was given a generous grant from the International Studies department, which I was and still am quite grateful for, and set off for a life-changing month.

The college city of Oxford was a dream. After three years and a major's worth of writing classes, that is still the only simple description I can give without wistfully trailing off into a series of unforgettable memories and indescribable sights. The lectures I was able to attend were also the stuff of fairy tales. The opportunity for one-on-one discussions with actual Oxford tutors was an academic highpoint.

As you may recall, the summer of 2005 was marked by the terrorist attacks in London, and they also proved to be a changing force in my life. The Oxford Program was the first time that I had ever been away from home and family for more than a few days, and traveling across London, despite bombed underground stops, was a somber but liberating experience.

The experience was so magical that, when I heard that there was a spot open on the trip the following summer, I applied again. My second trip afforded me the chance to step further outside my own boundaries and to form a true connection with the city. I know the street map of Oxford better than that of Joplin, and found myself giving directions and recommendations to tourists. I made long walking excursions that took me miles from Oxford's Merton College and gave me incredible insights into the local culture.

Since then, I have traveled to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Scotland, and Wales, and plan to make another trip to Europe as soon as scheduling and finances permit. Traveling abroad opened up a part of my mind I had never discovered and granted me opportunities I couldn't have imagined. It led me to a second major and was at the heart of my senior thesis and to a deeper understanding of other people, cultures, politics, and the world.

I realize that a letter from a former student will not change a budget, but I wanted to share what a life-changing opportunity MSSU and the Department of International Studies was once able to give to a naïve small town boy.