Author Archives: ssaponte

~ Reflect, reflect, reflect!! ~

If you take anything from this blog post, let it be the quote: “We do not learn from experience… we learn from reflecting on experience.” 

While we have a class before we study abroad to help us prepare and one after to help us reflect (Spanish 394Pl Prep Programs/ Spanish Speaking World and 494 Rl Reflection/Experience Abroad), it is important to be reflecting DURING our experience abroad as well. This is solely up to you, but here are some questions you might want to ask yourself:

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~ Making Friends & Making the most of it! ~

Going abroad is intimidating and can come with many challenges… discomfort with the language, trouble making friends, and walking around somewhere where everything feels new, exciting, unknown, or unfamiliar. Although these things are intimidating, you gain a sort of confidence and proudness within yourself when you start to push your boundaries and begin to discover what you are really capable of accomplishing on your own. Just journeying to Costa Rica was a scary accomplishment for me as I was arriving at the airport at 1 or 2am which was well before my program’s local mentors/guides were set to pick me up from the airport. Let me share with you two things I find important: making the most of your time abroad and making friends.

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Following the Signs: You’ll always make the right choice.

I applied to a program in Valparaiso, Chile. It offered both Spanish and Sociology classes which is perfect because I just added my secondary Sociology major in the spring of my sophomore year and really need to play catch-up. While Argentina also offered these courses, the Valparaiso program cost less and sounded more colorful, interesting, and suitable for me.

Unfortunately, things took a turn after the long process of running around getting approval from this person and that person and after turning in this document and that document. I was accepted into the program, turned in my housing and course information, and paid what I needed to pay after my financial aid award. Then I began to hear of trouble brewing in Chile. Thanks to the weekly assignments in my Spanish Speaking World Prep program class (Spanish 394Pl) to read a Latin American newspaper story and write about it, I kept a close eye on Chile. With a slight increase in metro prices after an increase in electricity costs a month before, the country blew up in nationwide protests. Continue reading