Courtesy of Peter Coats

Peter Coats at the Great Wall of China.

In one year, Peter Coats has ridden an elephant, a yak and a camel -- each in a different country.

Coats, a 2009 graduate of Maryville (Tenn.) College, will be among the first to say traveling and studying abroad have greatly enriched their education.

"It's given me a global perspective," explained Coats, a 2004 graduate of Hidden Valley High School, who majored in international business. "We live in world that's getting increasingly smaller. Understanding global cultures will benefit you no matter what field you go into."

Coats' first trip out of the country was the summer after his freshman year. A Bonner Scholar, he and other first-year Bonners took a trip to Mexico to volunteer with nonprofits BorderLinks and Habitat for Humanity. A few years later, he traveled with the Bonners to Ecuador for a service trip to an orphanage and wildlife rescue.

As a requirement for his degree, he studied abroad in Chile during the summer of 2008. In January 2009, Coats traveled to India as a part of the College's January Term travel-study courses. Earning three credit hours, he visited an ashram at the foot of the Himalayas, an orphanage, a hospital, and a tiger reserve in addition to visiting the "must see" places like the Taj Mahal and the Ganges River. About six months later, he packed his bags again for rural China and Tibet, another travel-study course, World Cultures 350: Indigenous Peoples. While studying, he filmed a documentary, "Nomadic Yak-Herding Life," with the professors leading the trip, Dr. Scott Henson, assistant professor of political science, and Dr. Carl Gombert, professor of art.

And this fall, Coats was one of 25 undergraduates accepted into the Oxford Emerging Markets program, "Discover Dubai," and spent one week in the United Arab Emirates, meeting with executives of prominent companies that are operating in the fastest-growing city on earth.

He was one of only four students from the United States participating -- the others hailing from Harvard University and Stanford University.

"I was like a little kid looking out the window every day," Coats said of experiencing a city that boasts the tallest building in the world, the largest aquarium in the world, the largest indoor ski resort in the world, and soon, the largest airport in the world.

"The sheikh of the UAE is building Dubai to become the tourist destination of the world," Coats explained. "Construction is everywhere. One-fourth of the world's cranes are in Dubai." Interested in a career in finance and consulting, he took advantage of opportunities to learn more about job opportunities with corporations like Boston Consulting Group, Deutsche Bank, Bain & Co., McKinsey & Co. and Nakheel.

He is quick to point out that his trips abroad have not been vacations but instead, important educational and vocational experiences. He is grateful for the financial help that he has received to travel, tour and live in other countries for periods of time.

Coats is the son of Kathy Coats of Roanoke. His grandparents are Dr. and Mrs. Ken Tuck, also of Roanoke.

"Traveling and studying abroad gives you experiences that will set you apart as you're networking in the business world," he said.

Submitted by Karen B. Eldridge, director of communications, Maryville College