What a year this has been for me. During the Fall 2009 semester, I studied abroad in Madrid, Spain, and took classes for my Spanish major as well as doing an internship with a non-profit organization called Club of Madrid, whose membership comprises the world's largest forum of democratically-elected ex-presidents and prime ministers from around the world. I have talked about this in a previous blog post, so I will not devote much space to it here. Needless to say, my experiences with studying abroad have returned me to the United States a well-heeled traveler who has attempted to incorporate the lessons I learned from living abroad into my everyday life so as to become a "citizen of the world."
After I returned from Spain in December, the realization that I was fixing to have to return to the mass amounts of homework I had not experienced since the previous spring semester had not yet hit me. But, oh boy, did that realization slap me in the face during my first week back. I found myself unable to write a paper as quickly as I had previously done, which I chalk up to the fact that I had only written two essays during my time in Spain. Two sounds like a vacation in Tahiti compared to the mountain of essays that has eclipsed my life this semester.
Our Paideia cohort's topic is, "Understanding Human Behavior." I feel that having a firm grasp of the systems on which other cultures operate is part of the process of beginning to understand human behavior. That is why I found my study abroad experience so valuable. Being able to live in and experience a completely different cultural, political and historical environment is why I feel that study abroad should be an integral part of everyone's college education, not just those students in the Paideia program, or just Southwestern students, for that matter. I have gained experience in learning to live with people different from myself, not just with different value systems and languages, but with different problems, concerns and goals from my own. In Spain, my host mom and I had many disagreements (which might just be the understatement of the year). She didn't like cooking and often fed us frozen meals or the leftovers from the restaurant at which she worked. She had an irrational obsession with the cost of electricity and the fact that the only way I could sleep was with the white noise from a electric fan. She was unwilling to compromise on the schedule she kept, even though she was supposed to per the contracts we signed with program. But, through all these disagreements and problems, I have emerged a person who is more confident and able to deal with situations that aren't exactly favorable. I have learned that in life, we most often do not get what we want and sometimes we just have to make the best with what we are given.
Paideia, for me, is a little like my experience with my Spanish host mom. We are put into this group with people we may not know or like and asked to cooperate and design a civic engagement project. In the process, we not only have to compromise and find ways to make things work, but we also have to make every attempt to get along, as those with whom we work will be with us for the remainder of our undergraduate educations. In the moment, a lot of these compromises and disagreements only serve to anger or annoy us, but for me, after I have time to step away from the situation and reevaluate that which occurred, I usually get a different view than that which I originally had. As the program has progressed, I have gotten to know several of the members of my cohort well and I have also shared intimate details of my life with them in the process. This give and take, back and forth exchange of ideas and feelings is what a liberal arts education is all about and why Paideia works for me. I needed the study abroad experience in my life at this time to open me up to new ideas and ways of living; to teach me to eat the plate of shit that life sometimes gives me and be thankful that I at least have something to eat. Paideia allows me to take the experiences I had while studying abroad and continue the discussion by not only providing a place to vent about the frustrations I had, but also providing a forum in which others can provide advice and commentary which help to bring into focus my perception of the situation.
This year has been a turnaround in terms of what I feel Paideia, as a program, is and aims to be. I love that it is open-ended and up to each group to decide what they want to get from their class. Not that I didn't like the original members of the Paideia group, but I thoroughly enjoy the small size of the group now. It allows for me to form a much more personal connection not only with my fellow cohort members, but also with Dr. Giuliano and her family, the members of which are included in many of our activities. The format of this semester's meetings has been very conducive to conversation. In addition, it required much less preparation and outside work than in previous semesters, which was one of my principal concerns with the program. As it stands, I am as happy in Paideia as I have been since I started the class.
This semester has been rather crazy for me. I have held two different jobs, the second of which I currently hold, and am on the edge of completing some of the last requirements for my majors, outside of my Capstones. I am constantly learning new lessons about myself and about life, in general. These are in addition to the obvious lessons pertinent to aims of my classes. This is one of the reasons for my renewed love affair with Southwestern. When a university makes as its mission the inclusion of life lessons into its classes, that is impressive. I have only recently realized the significance of the combination of these two lessons in solidifying my knowledge of theoretical texts in my classes.
Though it is still a year in the future, I can literally taste the finish line for this portion of my life. I love college, and my rediscovery of Georgetown has only furthered that effect, but I am looking forward to seeing where my journey takes me next. The view from this side of the future is rather foggy and undetermined; yet this is one of the reasons I am so excited to move into the next step in my life. I am a much different person than I was when I arrived at Southwestern. Hell, I'm a much different person than I was at this time a year ago! Not that I didn't like who I was then, I did. But now, me is the me specifically designed for this period in my life. I guess that one could say this about any time in their life and thus make it their preference at all times, but maybe that is part of growing up. Recognizing the changes one has gone through to get to the present day, being happy with one's current self and always keeping one eye on the horizon, ever searching for the next piece in this puzzle we call Life.
Yours,
Brady
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