The Brown & White

Few people get the chance to travel to Turkey free of charge. Even fewer yet are published in professional quality journals. Yet, Lehigh offers both of these opportunities to the select junior students chosen to participate in the Martindale Student Associates, or MSA, program.

The current class, set to travel to Turkey from May 7 to May 17, had to go through a complicated application and interview process that narrows down a group of about 300 qualified students to just 12. Each student then forms a thesis of personal interest, which they will research in Turkey and write the next year. The final product will be featured in the "Perspectives on Business and Economics" journal that the Martindale Center produces each year.

J. Richard Aronson, director of the Martindale Center for the Study of Private Enterprise, and one of the founders of the program, said writing is something the program stresses from the very beginning.

"The purpose is truly to write at a level that would be published in a professional journal," Aronson said. "We distribute students to points around the globe, and they get the chance to visit embassies and meet with leaders in business and government. Yet, the real goal is writing articles that are profound and interesting to read."

The group is initially selected with notification of a nomination based on a GPA of 3.42 or higher by means of a letter sent home over winter break. These students are then invited to an information session to learn more.

The program usually takes four engineers, four business students, and four arts and sciences students.

For mechanical engineer and business minors like Alex Kubo, '10, the process could have seemed overwhelming, he said, especially because writing is not an area often stressed for engineers.

"This application included three essays, transcripts, and a resume-like form which were all assessed with a special focus on writing ability," Kubo said.

After Kubo made it to the interview level, he had to face a panel of faculty and senior MSAs.

"The environment was encouraging and curious rather than cutthroat and analytical, as many other interviews I had gone through had been," Kubo said.

Allison Prosswimmer, '10, a history major and another of the students accepted for Turkey this year, is excited for the trip.

"In our time there, we will visit government ministries, universities, banks, health clinics and even a Turkish bazaar," Prosswimmer said. "It's always exciting to immerse yourself in the culture of another country."

Sharon Bernstein, the administrative coordinator for the Martindale Center said while the purpose of the trip is academic there will be time for fun, too.

The real work on students' theses begin when they return in the fall. Whether it is a topic with which they were already familiar or something they'd always wanted to study but never got the chance, writing their papers and getting them published is the biggest hurdle.