The Texas Tech University College of Media & Communication offers study abroad opportunities in places such as New Zealand, Germany and England. One current student recently studied abroad in a place a little more unusual: the Middle East.

Kailey Hultman (BA Public Relations, 2015) studied abroad at the American University in Dubai during the summer and fall of 2013. Her decision to study abroad in the Middle East was influenced by her interest in the culture and receiving the William Jefferson Clinton Scholarship, a scholarship founded by President Bill Clinton that allows American students the opportunity to expand their horizons by studying at the American University in Dubai.

“I was taking Arabic classes at Texas Tech to become fluent so I can speak with native speakers,” Hultman said. “But, we were learning very formal Arabic in class, and I thought I should study abroad. Dubai was a great place to study, and I received a full scholarship to study there.”

“I am the first Texas Tech student who has studied in Dubai,” Hultman said. “I went by the university’s study abroad office and saw United Arab Emirates was listed as a place to study abroad. It came down to Jordan and United Arab Emirates. I chose the United Arab Emirates just because Dubai is so outlandish.”

While studying abroad, Hultman also interned with ExxonMobil. Hultman said this was a great experience to learn about public relations outside of the classroom and a good opportunity to learn about crisis management, which Hultman said she would like to pursue as a career.

“I interned in the socioeconomics department at ExxonMobil,” Hultman said. “We conducted a series of humanitarian projects in war-torn Iraq to improve their lives and to mitigate the risk of work stoppages. The main goal was to create and maintain better relations between ExxonMobil and Iraq.”

Hultman interned with fellow Tech student Joshua Camp, a senior global supply chain management and international business major from Lagos, Nigeria. Camp also studied abroad at the American University in Dubai. Camp and Hultman both agreed that the internship with ExxonMobil was a great learning experience.

“All of my tuition and expenses for school were paid for,” Camp said. “So, I reached out to a manager at ExxonMobil stating that I just wanted to gain experience and did not need to be paid. Kailey and I were both hired on a contingency basis and then we became paid interns after a month.”

Hultman said, “I definitely learned how to understand my publics during the internship. I also learned how to figure things out on my own. It also taught me how to work as part of a team which has helped me in being an account manager for my public relations campaigns class.”

Matthew VanDyke, water cluster doctoral student and graduate part-time instructor, taught PR 4312 Public Relations Campaigns to Hultman in the fall of 2014. He said he first learned about Hultman’s experience in the Middle East when Hultman applied to become an account manager in VanDyke’s class.

“I remember looking over her resume and being very impressed,” VanDyke said. “I was amazed at the amount of experience she has had while still a student. It’s pretty interesting and unique.”

VanDyke said the team Hultman managed was professional and creative. VanDyke said this could be due to Hultman’s experience working on an actual campaign with ExxonMobil during her internship.

“Kailey’s team, in particular, was very proactive,” VanDyke said. “They were very creative and great at thinking broadly. They were professional, on the ball, and wanted to produce a quality product at the end of the semester.”

Hultman said she enjoyed her time in Dubai. However, day-to-day life in the Middle East took a little getting used to due to a few cultural differences.

“I lived in the dorms on campus,” Hultman said. “I had to get my dad’s permission to stay out past the curfew at 10 p.m. There were also male and female dorms and opposite genders were not allowed in the other dorms. There was a dress code and the Internet was censored. Other than those few things, getting adjusted to living in Dubai was pretty easy.”

While living in Dubai was not difficult, Hultman said she was the only American in the majority of her classes.

“Dubai is a melting pot,” Hultman said. “But, in most of my classes, I was the only American. I took Arabic classes, cultural classes, and media and public relations classes.”

Hultman said she enjoyed interacting with Arabs while living in Dubai. Since the culture is quite different from American culture, Hultman said she took the opportunity to learn about the country she was living in while studying abroad.

“My favorite part was just learning about their religion and culture,” Hultman said. “I also liked to get the thoughts of Arabs on these topics. I was so interested to know what they believe in because it is so different from everything I have ever encountered. It was just fascinating.”

Camp said he and Hultman both were able to use their strengths during the internship with ExxonMobil. However, they both also got experience in unfamiliar fields through some of their assignments.

“I, with my supply chain background, worked with contractors to make sure our operations were facilitated,” Camp said. “Kailey, with her public relations background, worked with the socioeconomics department to make sure that people were properly compensated who were relocated due to the drilling of oil and to make sure that we were benefitting the community.”

“Larger projects were assigned to us, and then based on our strengths, we would take what we needed to,” Camp said. “This was a new and unique position created for us. So, occasionally we would help out with projects that were not necessarily associated with either of our areas of expertise.”

For the future, Hultman said her dream would be to work in crisis management in the Middle East. VanDyke said he could see Hultman in that field but he thinks Hultman will be good at whatever field she chooses to work in.

“Kailey will be successful in whatever she hopes to do,” VanDyke said. “She carries herself very professionally and is very detail-oriented. Whatever she wants to do after school, she is going to be successful.” mc

(Preston Redden graduated in 2015 with a Master of Arts degree in Mass Communications and in 2012 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism.)