Park.edu Home > Office of International Affairs and Education > Staff > Irina Kobzeva
Graduate Assistant: Irina Kobzevastudyabroad@park.edu Irina is from Russia, but has been living in the United States since 1998. She graduated in 2004 with two undergraduate degrees from Park University, one in Psychology and one in Business Administration with an emphasis on International Business. She is currently working on her Master's of Public Affairs degree, with an emphasis on non-profit and community affairs. Irina has been working for the Office of International Affairs and Education since 2003. Responsible for special international projects, her job description involves much time working out proposals, logistics, planning, and timelines to make sure students and faculty who embark on study abroad and international travel have a rewarding and worry-free experience. She also works on special programs that help bring people from other parts of the world to Park University to share their culture. Additionally, she assists the office with community outreach programs such as International Classroom Partnership, which is her favorite. "I love it because we get to work with children when they are at the best age," she says. "They're still pure at heart and open-minded, so they don't have so many stereotypes. We give the students an opportunity to meet people from many different countries, and they get so excited. They want to ask us about what kind of cars we drive back home, and if we have chocolate chip cookies - it makes us into ambassadors of the world." Irina is also involved in other academic and cultural programs around campus. She is a member of People to People International, PI GAMMA MU International Honor Society for Social Sciences, and PSY CHI The National Honor Society in Psychology. She was also working as part of the strategic planning committee that developed "Explorations and Transformations 2012: Access to Excellence," a continuance of Park University's 129 year-old tradition of educational commitment. She is also a former member of Park University Student Senate, World Student Union, Model UN, and is a graduate of the Global Future International Education Program. Though Irina does not think she has travelled to many places, her list of countries visited outside of her homeland in Russia is 14 countries long: Turkey, Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Ukraine, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Luxemburg, Germany, France, Mexico, Canada, and the United States. Here, Irina loves travelling the states with her husband, and is particularly fond of national parks. She speaks Russian, English, and a little Serbo-Croatian. --------------------------------- University Resources |