Desiree Mitchell’s path to becoming an international human rights attorney will take her to Wales this fall.
Mitchell, a Rogers State University senior from Elk City, Okla., will be the first RSU student to study abroad in Wales, under a program established by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.
Mitchell will study at Swansea University, which is located on the southwest coast of Wales.
At Swansea, she will study history, humanities and the German language. She also plans to take two online classes from RSU while she is there, including sociological theory and microcomputer applications.
“I’ve always wanted to visit Wales since I was young,” Mitchell said. “I was a big admirer of Princess Diana when I was a child and I’ve wanted to go to Wales ever since.”
Mitchell leaves for Wales on Sept. 2 and will return to Oklahoma in December. While she is there, she plans on traveling as much as her school work will allow.
She will complete her undergraduate studies at RSU in Claremore this spring, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in social science – psychology and sociology. She plans to attend law school next year to prepare for a career as an international human rights attorney.
“I think studying in Wales will provide me with great preparation for law school,” she said.
Swansea is a research university with 12,500 students, overlooking Swansea Bay on the Gower Peninsula in southwest Wales. The institution is relatively new by English standards, established in 1920 when King George V laid its foundation stone. However, its first academic building, Singleton Abbey, which was donated by the city of Swansea, is a neo-Gothic mansion dating back to 1780. In 1921, the university appointed the first woman professor at a British university. More recently, the institution was given the Times Higher Education Supplement Award for the U.K.’s Best Student Experience.