The most important concepts that have shaped my research are global competence, elitism/classism, and American attitude of Europe and Europeans. Beth McMurtrie's idea of global competence encompasses the idea that it is important for people to become educated about other languages and cultures while forming relationships with people around the globe in order to move forward in their profession. She argues that while the United States has a strong connection with Europe, it is more "cliche" to form those connections with people in Europe because it has been done before, and that making connections with people from other countries such as those in Asia, Africa, or Latin America are much more novel and valuable, which is one factor that could potentially contribute to American students' tendency to study in the U.S. and American universities' heavy handed advertisement of study abroad in non-European countries. The idea of global competence also ties into the concept