Robinson advises students to open up their minds by traveling the globe

by Sean O'Brien, posted Dec. 16, 2009

Before traveling the globe, Roy Robinson was born and raised in Columbia, Mo. Before he experienced many diversified cultures, Robinson was a Kewpie at Hickman High School. Before he was able to open himself up to the world, he was a history major at the University of Missouri. Now, Roy Robinson serves as the study abroad program director for the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources.

“I couldn’t wait to, well, get out of Columbia and explore the world,” Robinson said. “You have no idea how small your little hometown is until you experience the outside life. That is why I chose to study abroad as a student, and it changed my whole outlook on life and my career.”

Roy Robinson, CAFNR director of study abroad programs, has traveled to almost every continent on the planet over the years. Top: Robinson on the Inca Trail in Peru. Right: Robinson in Moscow. He was married in Florence, Italy.

While attending MU, Robinson studied abroad in Paris for a year. After graduation, he worked in Washington, D.C., at the African American Institute and in San Francisco at the Asia Foundation, where they focus on educating Americans about those specific cultures.

Robinson then entered into the Peace Corps where he traveled to Benin, which is a country in Africa, located next to Nigeria.

“My out of body experience was when I was in the Peace Corps,” Robinson said. “It just seemed that it all came together, in that, I realized how different people live their lives. There are thousands of people there that cannot even get clean water.”

Now, Robinson’s adventures include creating study abroad programs for CAFNR students and traveling with some of the groups to the foreign locations. He believes that students should open up themselves to the places of the world.

“It is hard to even find Roy in his office because he is out promoting study abroad all of the time,” said Stephanie Dagar, Robinson’s co-worker.

Dagar had previously studied abroad and found that the experience helped her learn socially about international life.

“He does a great job of finding diversity and a wide variety of places to offer study abroad programs,” Dagar said. “I notice the enthusiasm that Robinson has for his job and how it doesn’t seem like he is at work because he is enjoying it so much.”

Robinson has been to every continent on the planet, except for Antarctica. He hopes that he can even travel there someday, because he has a friend who lives there.

“I believe that you should have an even mixture of planned and spontaneous travel,” Robinson said. “People live by the travel guides, which are great tools, but they seem to ignore the little things, such as a hole in the wall restaurant, which can have great cuisine.”

When asked about his favorite place to visit, Robinson said: “Although there is something to like about every place that you visit, I am a little biased. I was married in Florence, Italy, and some of my favorite places to visit are Thailand, West Africa and India. I think the food is my favorite part. Thailand has these great little restaurants that have the most flavorful food. It is wonderful.”

CAFNR students have the opportunity to study abroad in more than 10 countries through semester or year-long programs. Stop by 2-64 Agriculture Building to visit with Robinson and learn about how to get involved with CAFNR study abroad.  

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