University of the Westindies Student Studies at Virginia Tech

BLACKSBURG, Va., Feb. 14, 2002 -- Maneuvering through snow and ice is something for which Paul Waldron's life till now had not prepared him.

"I am accustomed to sun and beaches, not ice and snow," said Waldron, a Barbados resident whose first taste of Virginia weather was a January snowstorm.

Waldron, son of Peter and Janice Waldron of Grazettes, St. Michael, is an exchange student studying agricultural and applied economics at Virginia Tech during the spring 2002 semester. His courses will support his agricultural studies at the University of the West Indies, or UWI.

Waldron studies at the St. Augustine campus of UWI in Trinidad and Tobago because it is the only one of the university's campuses to offer a program in agriculture. His interests in agriculture are driven by a desire to contribute to his father's farm as well as to give him a grounding in business issues such as world trade, negotiations, and policies.

Many of the students at UWI study law, medicine, or engineering. Waldron is concerned that the agrarian society he once knew is gone. He hopes that studying agriculture at Virginia Tech will allow him to stress the importance of agriculture when he returns home.

"Virginia Tech has a beautiful campus, the people are very polite, and my professors are very helpful as experts in their field," said Waldron. He is adjusting to all of the school pride the students and members of the community have here.

The exchange program has served UWI students in the past, and Waldron encourages other students to take the opportunity in the future.

"It allows you to think outside the box, receiving international experience while you are being educated," Waldron said.

The exchange program gives students the opportunity to study agriculture in an environment different from the one they are accustomed to, said John Crunkilton, associate director of academic programs in Virginia Tech's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Students at Virginia Tech benefit from interaction with exchange students who come from other universities, but the greatest benefit is to the students who participate in the exchange program.

"The true way to study another culture is to study and live in that culture," Crunkilton said.

Waldron said he chose Virginia Tech over other prominent universities because it came highly recommended and the scholarship opportunities offered. Virginia Tech has a similar exchange program with the University of the Orange Free State in Bloemfontein, South Africa.