{"id":8077,"date":"2023-11-22T14:34:13","date_gmt":"2023-11-22T14:34:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/?p=8077"},"modified":"2023-11-22T14:34:13","modified_gmt":"2023-11-22T14:34:13","slug":"grcc-trio-program-opens-doors-to-international-study-abroad-for-local-student","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/2023\/11\/22\/grcc-trio-program-opens-doors-to-international-study-abroad-for-local-student\/","title":{"rendered":"GRCC TRIO program opens doors to international study abroad for local student"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., <\/strong>\u00a0Nov. 14, 2023: <\/strong>Growing up in Grand Rapids, the world sometimes seemed pretty small to Francisco Arvizu-Mancilla.<\/p>\n

Sure, there were times during his four years at Kenowa Hills High School where the idea of someday\u00a0traveling outside of West Michigan, and even outside the U.S., sounded pretty good.<\/p>\n

But realistically, he said, it was hard to picture.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just seemed like a fantasy,\u201d he recalled recently. \u201cMaybe something I would be able to achieve in my\u00a0late 20s or maybe my 30s.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, thanks to the Grand Rapids Community College TRIO program,\u00a0 Arvizu-Mancilla\u2019s dreams came true this summer as he spent three weeks in the Netherlands as part of an international study abroad program through the Council for Opportunity in Education and the Keith Sherin Global Leaders Program.<\/p>\n

Now, months after the experience, he\u2019s still in wonder and grateful to GRCC for making the path\u00a0possible for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt all came so fast, but it was a truly amazing experience,\u201d he said with a smile.<\/p>\n

He first heard about the Keith Sherin Global Leaders program through his TRIO advisor. TRIO is a set of federally-funded college opportunity programs that provide academic advising, mentoring, financial guidance, counseling and other support to empower students that are traditionally underserved in higher education.<\/p>\n

The Keith Sherin Global Leaders Program selects TRIO students from around the country for three weeks\u00a0of study in the Netherlands each summer. The first week is a deep dive into the host country, and the\u00a0next two weeks see students at The Hague Summer School, participating in courses that focus on addressing global challenges.<\/p>\n

It all sounded pretty good to Arvizu-Mancilla, and with his interest suitably piqued, he applied, but, he added, without expecting too much.<\/p>\n

When he found out he had been accepted, it didn\u2019t immediately seem real, Arvizu-Mancilla said. But when it finally sunk in, he started to look forward to the trip and to prepare himself mentally.<\/p>\n

What he found in the Netherlands was better than he dared imagine.<\/p>\n

\u201cI experienced so much personal and professional growth,\u201d he said. \u201cI got to meet and become\u00a0networked with individuals from numerous countries, explored cool historical places and got to do some\u00a0dining of cuisines not found here. Since this was my first time abroad, everything was different. The\u00a0food, water, even the way the air smelled. It definitely opened up my perspective of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also found that he fit in with the best and brightest from around the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think from a personal perspective it allowed me to prove to myself I am capable of applying to such\u00a0programs in the future, and it allowed me to understand myself better,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The experience also solidified for Arvizu-Mancilla his plan to finish GRCC strong and then transfer to the\u00a0University of Michigan to complete a bachelor\u2019s degree, something that had been on his radar since he\u00a0first decided to attend GRCC after high school.<\/p>\n

Drawn to GRCC by \u201cthe low cost of tuition and the ability to avoid unnecessary debt for as long as I\u00a0could,\u201d he is now in his third and final year at the college and on his way to an associate degree in\u00a0social and behavioral sciences.<\/p>\n

As he looks ahead to graduation, with his summer experience still fresh in his mind, he has words of\u00a0advice for his fellow college students, both in Grand Rapids and elsewhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would strongly encourage not just GRCC students but anyone to go and travel abroad,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u00a0really does open one\u2019s mind as to how the world functions and really opens up doors to many\u00a0more opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., \u00a0Nov. 14, 2023: Growing up in Grand Rapids, the world sometimes seemed pretty small to Francisco Arvizu-Mancilla. Sure, there were times during his four years at Kenowa Hills High School where the idea of someday\u00a0traveling outside of West Michigan, and even outside the U.S., sounded pretty good. But realistically, he said, it<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8078,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_rtcl_gb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"wf_post_folders":[173],"class_list":["post-8077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"aioseo_notices":[],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/GRCC-Francisco-Travel-Abroad-2-1-1-copy.jpg",700,645,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/GRCC-Francisco-Travel-Abroad-2-1-1-copy.jpg",700,645,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/GRCC-Francisco-Travel-Abroad-2-1-1-copy.jpg",700,645,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/GRCC-Francisco-Travel-Abroad-2-1-1-copy-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/GRCC-Francisco-Travel-Abroad-2-1-1-copy-300x276.jpg",300,276,true],"large":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/GRCC-Francisco-Travel-Abroad-2-1-1-copy.jpg",640,590,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/GRCC-Francisco-Travel-Abroad-2-1-1-copy.jpg",700,645,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/GRCC-Francisco-Travel-Abroad-2-1-1-copy.jpg",700,645,false],"rtcl-gallery":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/GRCC-Francisco-Travel-Abroad-2-1-1-copy-700x462.jpg",700,462,true],"rtcl-thumbnail":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/GRCC-Francisco-Travel-Abroad-2-1-1-copy-320x240.jpg",320,240,true],"rtcl-gallery-thumbnail":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/GRCC-Francisco-Travel-Abroad-2-1-1-copy-150x105.jpg",150,105,true],"psacp-medium":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/GRCC-Francisco-Travel-Abroad-2-1-1-copy.jpg",500,461,false],"rpwe-thumbnail":["https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/GRCC-Francisco-Travel-Abroad-2-1-1-copy-45x45.jpg",45,45,true]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"LaPrensa Newspaper","author_link":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/author\/laprensa\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Articles<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., \u00a0Nov. 14, 2023: Growing up in Grand Rapids, the world sometimes seemed pretty small to Francisco Arvizu-Mancilla. Sure, there were times during his four years at Kenowa Hills High School where the idea of someday\u00a0traveling outside of West Michigan, and even outside the U.S., sounded pretty good. But realistically, he said, it","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8077"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8077\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8079,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8077\/revisions\/8079"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8077"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laprensanewspaper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=8077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}