De’Arbreya Lee
Blue & White Flash / Staff Writer
Staying in one spot for long has never been her style at all. No, not for Chicago, Ill., native Yolanda Davis.
Traveling from place to place and meeting new people has always been a love of hers but it was her first abroad trip to Malaga, Spain with a group of college friends that really sparked a desire in the heart of the then 19-year-old Davis. Years later, Davis introduced her own son to the travel bug and worked as a travel agent for 10 years before assuming her current role as Jackson State University’s Study Abroad Coordinator and Dean of International Studies.
Davis greets all students at JSU who walk into her office and have even the slightest interest for traveling with her smoky voice and the same question, “So, where do you want to go?”
When visits become frequent and plans turn into action, each student becomes her child, providing another opportunity to introduce students to the travel bug just as she did with her own son on a trip to Africa.
Several students at JSU have had the opportunity to be claimed as one of Davis’ children and Samuel Rhoads, a junior civil engineering major is among the bunch. Just as the Uniontown, Pa., native was pondering places to spend an engineering internship, Davis gave him a call.
“She walked me through the steps of everything and told me about this option in Bluefields, Nicaragua”, said Rhoads.
With the help of Davis and the work of Rhoads, he received the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship. After spending two months in Nicaragua last summer, Rhoads said that he has no regrets.
“It was definitely the best summer. It’s a lot of hard work learning a new language, but in the process of doing so you meet new people. Being in a new culture is when you start to learn and adapt to the language,” said Rhoads.
In preparations for the trip, Rhoads said that Davis was extremely helpful, like how any mother would be.
“She takes it really serious. When she says that ‘You’re my children’, she really means that,” said Rhoads.
Just as any concerned parent would do, Rhoads recalls the regular e-mails that Davis sent and her visit to Nicaragua to check on all of the students.
“You get that connection from her and you notice that she really does care about every student that she sends overseas”, said Rhoads.
Bentia Andrews, a senior language and psychology double major from Portland, Ore., is another student who Davis claims as one of her children.
Andrews traveled to Bluefields, Nicaragua and Cameroon, Africa under JSU’s Study Abroad Program.
“She was really that mother figure for us,” said Andrews.
Andrews recalls having technical issues with her computer while in Nicaragua and Davis offering to order computer equipment for her.
“I felt like she went above and beyond as a coordinator and as an advisor. At no point was I afraid or felt like I was alone because I know that I had her. She was only one call away,” said Andrews.
It’s clear that Davis was bitten by the “travel bug” but she says that she was not always as open minded to embracing the experiences that come along with traveling.
“I was a militant until I started traveling and I realized that we’re all the same,” said Davis. “Basically, we [women of all nationalities] want the same things as mothers. I want the same things for my child that people in other countries want for their children,” said Davis.
After many semesters of sending students abroad, Davis says that she strives to fulfill on particular mission: “Out of ten people that go, I want at least one to come back and say ‘Ms. Davis, it changed me’, but usually I have more than that. That makes me happy,” said Davis.
Jackson State’s Study Abroad Program offers several locations for travel, including Latin America, Europe, South Africa and Asia. There are numerous scholarships and fellowships available for undergraduate and graduate students such as the Boren Scholarships and Fellowships, Gilman International Scholarship Program and more.
The Study Abroad Program offers opportunities during the fall, spring and summer semesters in various locations such as China, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and more. For more information about the program, contact the Office of International Programs at (601)979-3791.
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