My Blog Picture

I never explained what I was doing in the (profile?) picture for my blog and because I don't have anything to do until class (and I want to boast a little bit) I thought that you all might be interested ("you all" assuming that more people than just Dr. G reads this post, haha). Okay, delineating from my point. In my picture, I had just climbed one of the ancient pyramid-like structures at Teotihuacán, Mexico and the picture was taken with my back facing the other, smaller pyramid. This place was one of the excursions on the SU Guanajuato trip this past summer and it was truly spectacular to walk among ruins that many different pre-Hispanic peoples had lived in and  helped create. Context, I know. The ancient city cannot be traced back to any one group of people because its architecture reflects that of the Mayans, Aztecs and many other smaller, lesser known groups. But, by the time the Spanish arrived in Mexico, the site was abandoned. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is known as one of the best-preserved sites and greatest mysteries in Mexico. 

Okay, so at the top of the post was a picture I took from the smaller pyramid looking towards the larger one and, in case you didn't notice, I linked the first mention of the ruins to the Wiki page about it, if I whetted your appetite for information about historical archeological ruins.

Brady

P.S. I think that I am beginning to like this blogging stuff. 

Studying Abroad

One time in high school I remember seeing a friend drive up in a car different from their everyday driver. When they exited the vehicle, I asked my friend what the reason was for this anomaly. She responded that she was driving her brother's car while he was "studying abroad in the Netherlands". To which one of my friends nearby replied, "Your brother has a Dutch girlfriend."

Paideia wants students to 'expand horizons' and venture outside their comfort zones, so study abroad fits in perfectly with that goal of the program. Another goal of the program is so that students have a way to differentiate themselves from the other graduating college students across the country and hopefully, the program will provide that extra little bit on a resume for a job or an application for graduate school. The same applies for study abroad. Even though it seems as though everyone is doing it, Southwestern really is lucky to have the liberal arts program that we do that facilitates and even encourages study abroad so easily. Not many other schools have the same study abroad rate as we do. 

I hope that from my next study abroad experience (I have already been to Guanajuato, Mexico) I will gain fluency in Spanish. I am planning for my next trip to be to Buenos Aires, Argentina, during the first six weeks of summer 2009. And then after that, during fall 2009, I want to go to Spain. So, I need to be fluent in order to get a good experience in Spain.

The overall education at SU is a liberal arts degree, with my majors being Spanish and Communication Studies. I feel that communication is involved with study abroad because one must be able to communicate in order to get the best experience possible. Also, if my communicating is done in Spanish, that is killing two birds with one stone. I think that my experiences abroad will continue to mesh and enhance my SU experience in ways that I cannot express.

I think about money. I think about money as everyone else right now thinks about money. But when you are looking to study in a place that uses the euro as its currency, you might really consider the money issue. The trip will not be expensive, which is hard to convince the parents of until they see it on paper, but the actual daily living is a money pit. I have a hard time keeping money in my pockets when I am in a beautiful city doing fun things and going fun places. Altogether, I have too much fun.

Fun part of the blog that I ruined. Okay, so my list is pretty much already formulated. I plan on going to Buenos Aires, Argentina, in summer 2009 with the SU program. Then, in the fall of 2009, I plan on studying abroad in Spain, still torn between Madrid and Barcelona though. An in spring 2010, I am looking at the NY Arts Program, which consists of mainly an internship for a semester. 

Good blog, or at least it was for me. Hope you enjoy it (again, not you creepers).

Brady

What I expect from Paideia

So, this blog is late. I know. And I don't really know why, because I intended to do it, but time got away from me. So, there is my explanation (or lack thereof). 

Paideia is a tricky class in which for me to outline my expectations because the class itself doesn't really have any. That is, other than the goals which the SU sets for everyone who attends the university: broadening the mind, trying new things, engaging oneself with peers and professors, etc. But, Paideia seems to be more (at least on the surface). When I think about where I want to be in 3 years and what I want to have accomplished during that time, the Paideia program seems to encompass many of my goals. I want to study abroad, Paideia wants you to study abroad. I want to be involved in the community that surrounds me (both SU and in the wider sense of Georgetown or Williamson County) and community service projects are built into the program. Basically, I decided to get into the Paideia program because I thought that it would make me a better, more devoted person through the process of having a group of people not only to share my struggles during college with, but with whom I share a common bond and can actually understand those struggles and hopefully, the ways in which they relate to the nuances in my personality. 

I probably just spouted forth the Paideia handbook on "goals" for the program, but seeing as I haven't even opened it yet, it's not plagiarism....haha (that was a joke). I want this blog to be both eye-openingly honest and readable. And hopefully it will be funny, but not for those of you who do not enjoy sarcasm, because it is basically part of my speech now. First blog entry, done.

If I know you, thanks for reading. If I don't, QUIT CREEPING!

Thanks and have a great day,

Brady