Karina Miranda was looking for a way to make the most out of her major.

She found her answer in studying abroad.

“I’m a Spanish major and it will definitely look good on my resume,” Miranda said. “But the overall experience of living in a challenging environment will inspire intellectual and personal growth.”

Students like Miranda are invited to the Study Abroad Fair in the Holmes Student Center in the Duke Ellington Ballroom on Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“The reason we want students to attend is because we want to educate them about study abroad at NIU,” said Anne Seitzinger, director of the Study Abroad office .

The fair will include booths with information from both NIU faculty-run programs , as well as outside study abroad providers like Study Abroad Italy and the Council on International Educational Exchange.

Nicholas Henriksen, Spanish professor and organizer of the trip to Toledo, Spain, said that the fair is designed for students to learn about the process it takes to study abroad.

“Participation in a study abroad program does not just imply spending a certain number of months abroad, as some may think,” Henriksen said. “There’s a lot to think about the application process, visa and passport, the best program for one’s major of study, summer, semester or academic year, and financial aid and loan options. Thursday’s fair is a place to find out the right information about the study abroad experience and all that it entails.”

Offices from campus will also be at the fair to help students plan for the different aspects of studying abroad.

“Representatives from the Financial Aid office, Health Services, Career Services will be there,” Seitzinger said. “What we’re trying to do is not only tell students about what’s available, but how that can be integrated into their major, how to prepare for it and then how to work with what you did afterwards.”

The study abroad fair is geared towards faculty and staff, also.

“Faculty can come and learn how to put together a study abroad program,” Seitzinger said. “Staff like to come to see what’s going on because we work with so many offices on campus. Plus, we have an organization, Just Goods, it’s a fair trade organization and they have goods there to sell, made by people in other countries.”

The fair is for students to get a grasp of what is needed to study abroad, as well as the importance of the experience students can get from traveling.

“We live in a globally interdependent and culturally diverse world, and I believe that study abroad is a very important first step to help people understand, learn about, and develop the skill sets necessary to live in and become the future of such a society,” Henriksen said.