Going into college I knew I would study something I loved. I wouldn´t be able to fathom it otherwise. I remember the time I worked at my dad´s office for 3 days filing and shredding paper—I quit after day 2. When I find something that moves me and inspires me and throws my mind through a loop, I thrive. When I am forced to complete a task which to me seems bland, mundane and without greater purpose…well, I struggle.

The idea of study abroad was a no brainer for me. It had always been a dream of mine. It excited me to think that after all those years of fantasizing, I could finally take action and do it one day, given the chance. Those days were drawing nearer as high school ended, and I was ready. After graduating high school I was finally a free(r) bird and planned on flying the coop to start seeing the world.

I developed a great love and enthusiasm for Spanish and Latin America when my older sister moved to Mexico when I was 12 years old. After visiting for the first time, I craved it. Ever since then I always excelled in Spanish class over every other subject. I did well because it not only fascinated me but inspired me and opened up a world of possibilities. I studied for Spanish and enjoyed it, which at the time I could say about few other classes. Spanish motivated me. In my mind I saw it as a circular room full of doors, each leading to a completely distinct path and opportunity. It has continued to astound me throughout my time as Spanish major that the more I delve into it, the more connected and boundless it all seems, worlds within worlds, opening up door after door, endless.

Dance has been an essential part of my life, particularly Latin Ballroom, which initially stemmed from my first experiences with the Spanish speaking world. I had also intently studied other styles of dance and planned on studying it as either a major or a minor in college. Both dance and the Spanish-speaking world appeared in my life around the same time and helped me out and gave my life purpose when all else failed. They were two realms I esteemed, yearned to grow in and hoped to ultimately combine. I thought about doing a major/minor combination of the two.

At freshman orientation I attended a Dance department meeting and to my dismay in the middle of the page on one of the handouts in bold letters read: ¨There is no dance minor in the dance department¨. What?! My heart fell. I half listened to the rest of the meeting and started planning in my head that maybe I could double major in Spanish and Dance. I did listen enough to hear that dance majors have to return in January during winter break to work on production pieces and that it would be difficult to spend much time abroad, away from the major. I was not liking the sound of that.

I contacted the Ballroom Dance Team and began freshman year as a Spanish major living in Van Meter, the arts building which was bursting with music, color and creativity. I was in the right place!

During my first semester I was encantada with my first Spanish professor at UMass: the energetic and hilarious, life-loving teacher of life–Carmen Cosme. Her stories about the Dominican Republic further filled my mind with visions of travel and ganas de hacerlo.

Throughout freshman and sophomore year I went back and forth about auditioning for the dance major, never really getting a good vibe from the department or feeling too keen on the auditions by the time they rolled around. I wasn´t getting the sense that it would feed my soul, make me grow in the ways I wanted to, or make me a better person; it felt a bit like trying to square a circle. Meanwhile, I was connecting cada vez más with the Spanish department and its warm, welcoming, humane and infectiously enthusiastic demeanor. The staff emanated contagious excitement of all the possibilities that stem from this area of study—how could they not? I was very interested in political activism for human rights, and was beginning to realize just how closely activism and social justice movements coincide with the Spanish-speaking world. Before I knew it, I was far underway on a Latin American Studies certificate.

Eventually I realized that the dance major at UMass wasn´t for me; it wasn´t what I was looking for. I was getting my fill of discipline, challenge and reward through Ballroom, I was feeding my creativity with my friends in the arts building, and I was learning, loving, discovering, uncovering and being intellectually stimulated by the never-ending fountain of knowledge and opportunity that is the Spanish department at UMass. I started focusing on study abroad.

Over the last 4 years I have taken courses that have changed me. One of my professors here in Spain says you don´t learn anything if it doesn´t transform you. At UMass I have had the privilege to have some amazing and passionate professors who have shown me different perspectives of the world, pointed me towards the truth and delivered the messages in very human ways, with spirit, energy and meaning. It has been a pleasure to see the excitement, emotion, and importance in the eyes and the words of the professor who relays them and share and feel and understand that experience. Connections to real life experiences make for a very real, personal, and memorable class. Not only memorable because I remember it fondly but because the truth came out into the light and I looked at something differently for the first time and I realize that it applies to me and I reflect on it and begin to comprehend it and I think about what I can do with this new piece of knowledge going forward, because I know I can´t and would never want to forget it, and I´m better off for it.

Some of my favorite classes have been:

Latin American History with Joel Wolfe which I took as my History Gen Ed.  This was probably one of the best classes I have ever taken and it was in a lecture hall! Our professor was funny, engaging, personable, entertaining, and above all, passionate about what he taught. He told stories and made sense of the Modern History of Latin America in relation to the U.S. in one semester. I was so inspired in that class. I got an A on the final paper and wanted to take it home with me (I knew that was not an option).

I also took Grassroots Community Development (GCD) as my ASB Gen Ed. This class was a student-run alternative education course which literally changed my way of thinking, viewing the world and my place in it. The class environment was one of utmost respect and also a caring safe space. We were all students, treated each other equally and held ourselves and each other accountable for making the class run smoothly and getting the most out of it. We talked a lot about identity, particularly race, class, and gender. We discussed privilege at length and went on an alternative spring break to Springfield to work with Alliance to Develop Power (ADP) against housing foreclosures on underprivileged and targeted populations, mainly black and Latino communities. One day, being the only Spanish major in the class, I was appointed to translate for some of the undocumented community members who worked with ADP. With the help of two other semi Spanish speaking students, I was to translate for the entire class the personal stories of when these men left their families and crossed the border, clandestino, and what their lives have been like since. I was nervous, realizing how important this was and not wanting to screw it up, but I knew I had to do it because I could. I was utterly humbled by this experience. It was powerful and gave my major a much deeper meaning for me. It made me realize how I could use my privilege as a tool for something greater than myself.

This class, among other things, helped spring me towards my first study abroad program spring semester sophomore year. I chose Living Routes in Monteverde, Costa Rica, an alternative education program focused on sustainability and social justice. I was drawn to it because, well, it basically had everything I was looking for right there in the name. In order to attempt to fully describe the impact and lasting changes this experience has had on me I would have to write a whole new blog (I realize how lengthy this one is turning out to be). Basically it furthered what I was learning in GCD, my Spanish classes and in life. It placed me into a radically different situation and taught me the importance of it all. For me, experiential learning has sin duda been the most effective, rewarding, and most interconnected with life. It was study abroad with many of the principles of the Grassroots class due to the social justice focus and alternative education style with a high emphasis on community. I learned more that semester than I can wrap my head around, I am still processing it and learning from it even today as I sit on my bed in Madrid, Spain. Costa Rica allowed me not only to make real connections with the community but also to become part of it. I lived with a host family on a farm in San Luis, a one hour hike down the mountain which was how we were expected to get to and from class. I learned to live and value la vida en el campo and understand the power relations of the local areas. We did service learning by tutoring the children at San Luis Altos, the local one room school house. I loved my PoliSci class there which went in depth with CAFTA and Central American relationship with the U.S.  We learned about the dictatorship and the FSLN in Nicaragua and also the relationship and border issues between Costa Rica and Nicaragua in comparison with the U.S. and México which really struck a chord with me. I was in academic heaven. We traveled to Nicaragua there as a group for spring break. It was a whole different world (another blog, another day). It was meaningful because we had learned so much prior to the trip. After the program ended I was able to travel a bit until my money began to run out. Not wanting to return home yet, I found a eco-friendly sustainable tree-house hostel on the beach in the south pacific of Costa Rica and lived and worked there as a volunteer for three months. I surfed and made my own meaningful connections to the community until it was time to go back late August to start junior year at UMass.

Spring of Junior year I took another life-changing Alternative Spring Break class: Guatemala. Each week we learned about a different aspect of Guatemala, particularly the indigenous mayas and the genocide against them during the civil war and dictatorship which had U.S. involvement. This class opened my eyes to an issue I was previously unaware of. Learning in depth the nuances of the history and hearing guest speakers come and talk about their specialty within the realm was invaluable. We had professors come and share their knowledge and personal interests on the topic but the most memorable speaker was when a woman came in to give her personal testimony of growing up in Guatemala during this time and seeing with her own eyes some of the things we had read about in Rigoberta Menchú. Throughout the semester we developed community in the class as we were simultaneously going through the changes of understanding Guatemala and the tragic human rights violations that took place there. This means that once we actually went there during spring break, aprovechamos so much more. We continued to learn on the trip but had so much background knowledge by that time that the experience hit me, and I think all of us in a very special and deep place, developing a real and lasting love for Guate.

That semester I also took Portuguese for Spanish speakers which I LOVED. Spanish has led me to Portuguese—a whole new world!!! And DEFINITELY a whole new blog post. Hahaha.

Here I am in the second semester of my year abroad in Madrid, Spain. I am still in the midst of the experience. Although I have reflected a lot on the previous semester, I cannot yet summarize the whole picture; the book is only half-written!  For many reasons, studying abroad in Madrid, Spain with the Hamilton College program has been a completely different experience than the ones I have previously mentioned yet I am loving it and learning every day. I will balance living it and documenting it and keep you all updated!

Being abroad 2+ times now and having gone to 4 different countries through UMass for my major has given incredible meaning not only to my studies but more than anything, to my life. Experiential learning gives context, nuances, and real life experience to draw from and reflect upon in relation to understanding and USING my major. It has allowed me to see the world not as a tourist but as a student of the world, understanding it in a distinct and unique way. I have been transformed through each study abroad program and many of my classes at UMass. I am forever grateful to the UMass Spanish and Portuguese Department for seeing the value in integrative experience and supporting students to learn their field in real context and lived experience