Photo | Courtesy | LA PATRIA Group of mobility students at Purdue University in the United States.
By: Diana Pía Vidal
Juan Miguel Valencia Hernández is a student of Veterinary and Animal Science at the Universidad de Caldas. He is originally from Florencia (Samaná) and is one of the 41 students who with the Nexo Global project were able to go for six months to the United States (USA).
Nexo Global was formulated for Caldas in 2021 with the alliance of Purdue University in the United States; with resources from the General System of Royalties and with the support of the Government of Caldas and the Universidad de Caldas as executing entity.
Mateo Acosta Castaño, specialized professional of the Vice-Rectory of University Projection of the Universidad de Caldas and coordinator of the Nexo Global project, mentions that the objective is to promote the development of research by undergraduate students.
The requirements to travel were to have advanced more than 80% of the academic curriculum and to be close to completing the undergraduate work or the research internship in lines with agricultural and livestock components. Juan Miguel met all of them. Therefore, he applied and on August 18, 2023 he started his trip to the state of Indiana (USA), where the University is located.
Accompaniment
The U. de Caldas supported the process for Juan Miguel to obtain the visa for the development of educational processes and the generation of the passport. "I went with the expenses covered by the program's agreement with Purdue University," says the student.
The process was the same for the rest of the students. Mateo Acosta highlights the participation of young people from the rural area of La Dorada: "There was always an appeal for students who came from rural areas and had few resources. They needed support to be able to leave the country, to learn a new way of studying and personally learn about the mechanics of research".
Acosta recalls that at the time of the survey it was known that the careers that had an agricultural component had a greater presence of students from the rural area.
For Juan Miguel, going abroad was a unique opportunity. He says: "The people of the town took notice and it was very motivating, taking into account that Purdue University is recognized worldwide (...) it is something very nice and interesting". The institution is ranked in the top 10 public U. in the United States and in the top 50 for research and innovation in the world. It is also renowned for having graduated 13 Nobel laureates in physics and chemistry.
