Name: Jacqueline Levine
Department: Assistant Dean and Director of Education Abroad and Senior Associate Director of the College Center for Advising Services.
Birthday: November 26th
Hometown: Poughkeepsie, New York
What languages can you speak?
I’m fluent in French and proficient in German and Spanish.
What college did you attend and what was your major?
I received my bachelor’s over the course of eleven years through five different institutions. I attended a community college during high school. For one year I went to UC Berkeley. I then dropped out and attended the University of Nice for two years. I received an associate degree in liberal arts through Monroe Community College and I finally finished my undergraduate education at the University of Rochester. The simplest way would be to say that I majored in the humanities. You could also say that I majored in French and minored in German and Film.
Why did you drop out of Berkeley and move to France?
It was an odd time, during the Vietnam War and the current political state. It was both the disruptive nature of the protests occurring on campus – which I was a part of – and what was being protested that convinced me to leave. I was just really discouraged with the state of our country and had also created an idealized view of France and its politics and culture. It was a bit of a shock when I came there and met people who were right-wing. At that time, at least from where I was living, all the people I had come into contact with who were my age were very liberal, and so for the first time I met people who saw the world in a very different way.
Outside of Study Abroad, how are you involved with the campus?
I’m involved partly as an alumna, and partly as having worked in so many different capacities in this campus. I serve on a variety of committees. Working in Education Abroad you have to have an ongoing relationship with almost all offices. I also serve as a Senior Associate Director of the College Center for Advising Services. I have a strong personal interest in international students and so I work closely with the international services offices on different projects.
What exactly about studying abroad do you think makes it such an important experience for students to have?
It ramps up skills like independence, self-reliance, and self-confidence. When you have to make quick decisions you don’t always get to check with your parents or friends about things. You inevitably find yourself in circumstances where you have to figure out what to do on your own because part of studying abroad is wandering and looking and learning and taking information in. And you’re processing because you’re out of the familiar – you’re processing information that you’ve never processed before. One of my colleagues who also works in Study Abroad at another institution says to not ask students what they’ve learned in study abroad until a few years after they’re back. Study abroad doesn’t make you smarter, it just reorganizes the way you look at problems. I think it helps you question your assumptions. Like all these familiar things you do every day – laundry, dining, relaxing, , getting ready for bed, reading, studying – take on a different meaning because everything will be slightly or radically different. Anything that gets you to question the familiar leads you to question other things, and I think that’s a good thing.
Advice to incoming/current freshmen?
Do what you like. Use this year to figure out what matters to you. A lot of times what I see is incoming freshmen try to make their word small. Don’t shut out possibilities. Go to classes, listen, and do the best you can to make an informed decision. Meet new people and take creative risks. If you’ve always fantasized about learning a particular kind of dance, this is the time to learn it. This isn’t high school, there should be no one looking over your shoulder to say you can’t. But just because you were good at science in high school doesn’t mean you’re doomed to become a scientist, unless that’s what you really want. You are here for a liberal arts education, not a pre-professional degree. Keep talking to people – there’s a wealth of educated, informed people to ask questions of.
Favorite thing about the University?
Too many things. The people. The trees. The great trees. The library.
Words to live by?
When you have a learning community, everyone is an educator. We’re here to teach people, so take part in that. If you have the opportunity to go somewhere and learn something, just do it. Take a chance.