I transferred into Umass this fall as a sophomore, as an early childhood education major with spanish as my secondary major. When I decided that early childhood was’t the best fit for me, spanish was pushed up to my primary major. I have always like spanish, and I fell in love with the idea of being able to to one day speak another language fluently however, learning spanish has never been something that comes easily to me. For as long as I have taken it it has been something I have had to work at. Last semester I wasn’t thrilled about the spanish class I was taking, but after this semester I have really started to enjoy them. I came into this year wanting to study abroad in Argentina, mainly because I had already been to Spain and thought, when will I ever get to go to South America again? When I met with the abroad office and looked at the programs in Argentina, and surrounding countries I realized that all of the programs started in July. This was just not an option for me because I need to work all summer in order to be able to afford my trip. Then I found out about a program in Santiago, Chile. I had thought that the only trips I could go on were through the Umass abroad office, but I quickly learned that Umass has connections with other programs in the U.S. referred to as “partner programs”. This means that the program that you apply to may not necessarily be a Umass program, but it is sponsored by the school. Which opens a lot of doors for students. After learning about the different partner programs, I decided to choose a trip through a group called USAC and go to Santiago.
In all honesty, there was no real reasoning behind my decision beside that I did not want to go to Spain. At this point, I am so excited to go away. It is my hope that studying abroad will make me see that the specific ways of the U.S. are not the only ways, and that there is so much more out there then what you see on a day to day basis. I want to study abroad because I know that it will show me about another culture, and help me become a more well rounded, worldly person. I want to meet knew people, travel new places, eat different foods, I want to know what it is like to be somewhere other than the place I have called home for the last twenty years. I want to go to Santiago to put everything I have learned together, and come home being able to use my fluency in spanish to show everyone the things I have learned.
Of course it is exciting getting to plan your trip, and figuring out your classes, and what your living situation is going to be like. However, as the end of the semester is getting closer I’m getting increasingly nervous. Right now it feels like everything is coming at me so fast, and time is passing so quickly. I’m excited to go, but I feel like summer is going to go by too fast and I won’t be ready to say goodbye to my friends and family. It may sound silly but as of right now one of my biggest fears is that my host family won’t like me. These are people that I will be living with for over three months and I want to be able to form a relationship with them. I don’t want to be just another person living in their house. I want to be able to spend time with them and learn from them. I want to live with people that I can keep in contact with for a very long time. And of course, I am also scared to leave behind my family and friends. These are people who have surrounded me for my entire life and it’s only fair that I would have reservations about leaving them. Sometimes I think about what will happen if I have a problem, or if this happens, or if that happens… and I won’t be able to talk to them. I know that I will still be able to be in contact with them but it’s going to be different and I know I’m going to have to form relationships in Santiago that will give me a similar sense of security. Although I have reservations about going for so long I know that this trip is going to be amazing, and really an experience of a life time.