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