UA News

DeFazio uses her own experiences traveling abroad to help prepare UA students for their journeys to other countries.

Name
Harmony DeFazio

Title
Study Abroad Adviser, Division of International Affairs – Study Abroad and Student Exchange

Number of years at the UA
3

Favorite part about working at the UA
"I like the students. I love my co-workers. We have a really wonderful office. ... You end up building these really fun relationships with people all over the world, and that's a lot of fun too."

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Harmony DeFazio was in the first grade when she started learning German. It was just the beginning of a long string of international experiences, which would have her traveling the world, from Argentina to Zambia.

DeFazio, who fell in love with the field of international education after traveling to Europe while attending the University of Oregon, now works with UA students planning to study abroad.

As a study abroad adviser in the University's Division of International Affairs, DeFazio helps students apply and prepare for a variety of study abroad programs. As one of nine advisers, she works specifically with students traveling to the Middle East and Africa. She also offers assistance to students from other countries who are studying at the UA. 

DeFazio recently talked with Lo Que Pasa about her passion for travel and her desire to help college students experience life outside the United States.

When did you visit your first foreign country?
I think I went to Canada when I was 2. ... But the first time I went abroad for a significant amount of time was when I was 14 or 15. In high school I did a three-week summer exchange tour to Germany. The year before I went there, a group of students from there had come to my high school, and the girl who stayed in my house then hosted me when I went to Germany. It was just three weeks, but it was enough to pique my interest for sure.

You got your bachelor's degree in German. Why the interest in Germany?
In grade school and middle school I went to a private school called Waldorf, which is an alternative school developed in Germany, so the curriculum involves taking German from the very beginning. ... I actually had been taking German since first grade, so I have a longstanding connection with the language, which was part of why I got involved with the high school exchange. ... Then after I graduated high school I wanted to take a year off before going to college and I didn't want to do it in the U.S., so I decided to go to Germany as a nanny, so I spent a whole year in Germany as a nanny before I came back and started college. At that point I was getting pretty comfortable with German and it just made sense for me to continue it, so I did German as my major, then I minored in Italian and linguistics.

What were your study abroad experiences in college?
I spent a quarter in Italy. I was in Siena, and it was a program that was half language intensive and half courses in English, and I was with other students from the states. I did that my sophomore year and then my junior year I went abroad again and I spent a whole year in Freiburg, Germany, at the University of Freiburg. ... I traveled all around Europe, primarily in the central part of Europe. I've been to England, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Greece.

What countries have you visited since college?
Since I graduated and have been working in international education I've had the opportunity to go to some other places. I, most recently, just in November, traveled to Jordan and Turkey. A year ago I spent some time traveling around southern Africa. I went to Zambia, Botswana and South Africa. And a few years ago I went to Argentina. ... But I'm embarrassed to admit that I've been living in Arizona for three years and I've only ever been to Nogales, and only once.

You don't think of the Middle East and Africa as being the most popular study abroad destinations. Do you have a lot of students wanting to go there?
It's not for everyone, and I would not want to send a student off to some place in Africa that wasn't a good fit for them. ... I don't get the students coming to me that just want to study abroad and haven't figured out where. They're usually pretty motivated by something. For the Middle East, it's usually Arabic. We have a very strong program here in Near Eastern studies, and there are a lot of students studying Arabic. We also have the international studies major, so those guys have to pick a regional focus, so some of them pick the Middle East. ... Similarly for Africa (I see) a lot of the international studies students, students in public health or who are interested in development issues. People who are thinking about Peace Corps come to me for Africa; they want to get a little experience before they make a big commitment like Peace Corps.

What kind of impact did your study abroad experiences have on you?
Well, I'm here doing this job. ... I realized that I wanted to do something international because I believe really strongly that, on a global level, if we're going to all work together and figure out a way to share the planet, we have to understand each other. So having these connections with people from another country, learning another culture, is crucial.

Does this job allow you to travel?
One of the things that students want from us is to know what it's like, and if we haven't been there we can't tell them. ... The kinds of information they want from me is, "What's the housing like? What's the campus like? How many students are there?" I can find some of those statistics, but without having seen it I can't really describe it to them. So one of the major things that we do is site visits (once or twice a year).

Why should students consider studying abroad?
Because it's such a unique experience. Because it gives you new insight, not only into another country, but also into your own. ... The opportunities for personal growth are amazing; the academic opportunities are amazing. Some of the partners that we have are top universities in their countries. ... Career-wise the advantages might be a little more subtle but they're definitely there, too. The skills that you learn in another country are the sort of soft skills employers are looking for  – your ability to be flexible, your ability to work in a team. ... Also, it's a talking point. It's something that sets you apart from other candidates. I think the number may have gone up, but it's only something like 1 or 2 percent of students in the whole country are going abroad.

What do you like best about your work with students?
I guess I get to live a little bit vicariously. ... It's really exciting to me to see young people having that experience and getting to send them off for what will be the experience of a lifetime.

Do you know someone who has an interesting job at the UA? Send his or her name and contact information to lqp@email.arizona.edu for consideration for a future Employee Q&A.