KU graduate Jack Martin still remembers exactly when he got his first passport. In preparation for a trip to the British Isles, his grandparents took 10-year-old Martin to the Abilene, Kan., post office to mail off his passport application. The trip would end up a key moment in shifting how he, even at such a young age, perceived the world.
“It changes your mindset to know that you can go just about anywhere in the world, thanks to that passport,” he said. “It changes how you see the world knowing that you can go and experience it.”
It is the chance to give other Jayhawks a similar life-changing experience that led Martin and his wife, Sarah Jackson Martin, to become loyal supporters of the programs provided by KU’s International Affairs office. This past spring, the couple offered a matching donation during One Day. One KU. in support of International Affairs’ Passport initiative, the goal of which is to ensure that the $165 cash passport application fee is not a financial burden to any KU student interested in experiencing international education.
“For some students that $165 is a barrier to being able to study abroad or to being able to travel,” he said. “And so that was something that really appealed to us, to provide this key to the world to students.”
While Martin wasn’t able to study abroad while he was a political science major at KU, he believes that the experience is vital to not only understanding the world, but also yourself, and encourages every student to take advantage of international education opportunities.
“For someone who might be hesitant about studying abroad, maybe that's for financial reasons, maybe it's from concern about what you see in the news, I would say that the world is a big and amazing place,” he said. “And that, sure, there are things that are happening in the world that are concerning and are tragic, but there is also just so much joy and so much opportunity in the world.”
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