If you’re a Portuguese or Spanish major, you know that a requirement for graduating at UMass is completing your Integrative Experience (IE). Most students complete this requirement by going Abroad their sophomore/junior year of college. But what happens if you can’t study abroad for various reasons?

Well, that happened to me. Coming into UMass, I had no idea what I wanted major in. I was unfamiliar with the “college education system” because I was first-generation American and college student. So my family and I had no idea what college would truly be like. I thought I picked the college I wanted to go to and then I would pick my career path, which for me was education, and that was it. I would study to become a teacher, which isn’t necessarily false now. But I had to pick a new major because UMass doesn’t have an Elementary Education major, only a minor. So after discussing with my support systems (family, friends, and Peer Mentor), I choose to major in Portuguese and be a part of the Spanish & Portuguese Department. It was a really good fit for me because I knew some Portuguese beforehand and wanted to improve upon my language. It’s a small program which allowed me to really connect with the faculty and my classmates.

However, picking my major turned out to be half the battle my four years at UMass. It was challenging to complete my requirements because I declared my major almost a full year later than I originally planned, certain Portuguese classes were only offered in certain semester, some classes were canceled and I was also minoring in three different fields on top of my hectic schedule. I would course overload every semester on top of working two or three jobs. It was a lot of hard work, which thankfully worked out in the end, but still caused me much stress and also caused me not to Study Abroad. I couldn’t afford it; it was too expensive and my staying at UMass all depended on me working my campus job which paid for my college bill and dorm room. I tried multiple times to save money up and reach out for scholarships applications, but it wasn’t going to work.

I still needed to complete the IE requirement. So in the spring of my junior year, I choose to be a Portuguese Interpreter at the Wildwood Elementary school in Amherst. It was fun; I got to gain teaching experience on top of enhancing my Portuguese communication skills. Another bright side was that I got paid! There were some challenges to this position. The students I was working with didn’t necessarily speak Portuguese because they were of Cabo Verdean decent.  In Cabo Verde, children speak Creole at home and only learn Portuguese in grammar school. The kids I worked with were in second grade and knew only some English and Portuguese. So it was a struggle at times to do. But it was worth it in the end.

The point of this long post is to show that there are other options than just studying abroad. If you have the opportunity to Study Abroad: go. But if you’re in a situation like I was in, you can complete the IE requirement by finding a community service based job or internship like tutoring at Holyoke schools or being an interpreter for the Amherst/Pelham school district. There is more out there for you to discover. And all areas of study (study abroad, community service, certain internships), they all can offer you something different. You just have to choose, plan carefully, and complete that IE requirement before you graduate. Because graduation comes a lot faster than you think.