Author Archives: cevans

Injured abroad

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What is a parent’s biggest fear when sending their child off to school or on a trip? Most would say having the kid getting hurt or sick and being too far away to help. Well my parents had to live through that.

They were having a casual Thursday night watching Game of Thrones on the couch when suddenly my mom’s phone started ringing. When she picked it up she was greeted by me sobbing so hard I was barely able to speak. I kept repeating “I hurt my knee” and “I can’t walk”. Of course, they went into a panic. I was 3,600 miles away from them and claimed to be seriously injured. A parent’s worst nightmare.

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Fit, fun, and abroad.

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Ever since my first trip to Spain in 2017 with my high school exchange program, I knew I would do whatever it took to be able to return. Four years later as I began to pack my bags for my semester abroad, I was filled with anxiety. There were many factors contributing to that feeling. I was nervous about being in a new place, my Spanish not being strong enough, making friends, and being thousands of miles away from my home. But at the forefront of my mind, was how/if I was going to be able to maintain my health and fitness.

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Not your average Spanish story…

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My experience with the Spanish language and culture is slightly different than the majority of students I have met throughout my time at UMass. When I was 11 years old, my parents sat my brother and I down and told us that we would be leaving the town we had lived in our whole lives to move to a third world country. At this time in my life I had never even traveled outside of the United States. After many tears and much resistance, I eventually tried to come to terms with the fact that we would be expanding our worlds and moving to Costa Rica.

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