Studying Abroad: learning around the world
Design and Story By: Jasmyn Weaver
After you graduate from high school, you can go to college, not go to college, take a gap year, or study abroad. Studying abroad gives you opportunities such as traveling, indulging in the food, and comparing life in that country to your life back home. Once she graduates, senior Marisol Barbosa is going to study abroad in Seoul, South Korea. “I want to be an ESL teacher, and it all started when I was in the program myself,” Barbosa said. “I was coming from a very Spanish background where all I knew was Spanish.” Barbosa was born in Sierra Vista, Arizona and moved to Puerto Rico when she was 40 days old. She was raised in Puerto Rico and moved back to the States when she was 10 years old. “I wanted to go to an Asian country because I’ve been to so many Spanish speaking countries,” Barbosa said. “Yes, I know the language and I know that I could thrive there, but I wanted to go outside the box, and get into an uncomfortable situation where I’m going to have to struggle and learn my way.” “I chose South Korea because I wanted to immerse myself into the language and culture and I believe that, personally, China would be too difficult,” Barbosa said. “I went back and forth between Japan and South Korea for a long time,” she said. She asked her aunt, who went to both South Korea and Japan, for advise. Ultimately, she knew it was her decision, so she chose South Korea because it’d be
easier for her to adapt. Older sister of sophomore Hailey Giles, Sarah Giles is studying abroad in Moscow, Russia. She’s been in Moscow since January 2018. “Anytime anyone hears us speaking English anywhere we go, they immediately turn, stare at us, and point it out,” Sarah said.“The craziest thing to happen is that one time, these teenagers heard us speaking English and they followed us and tried to talk to us all the way back to the metro.” “I was excited, yet nervous. We, me and the other kid here with me, had talked to students who just came back from the program,” The program she’s in is six months long and you can choose between China, Russia, Japan, Spain, Italy, France, and Germany. “At American University (AU) there’s two programs, indirect and direct,” In direct enrollment, AU handles everything and all you have to do is show up. While indirect is you do everything yourself such as going through the whole process, go there, and figure out your classes. “I got a lot more help from fellow students and friends than from actual adult administration,” Besides being on her own, she was excited for the experience and the being apart of a culture she hasn’t been apart of before. “As bad as it sounds, I wish I had appliances like a good washing machine, a blow dryer, and a good mattress would be nice,” she said. “You don’t realize how many
things you acquire during your time in college or in an apartment until you don’t have it and you’re like ‘Oh, crap!” Sarah said. Spanish teacher, Mr. Barrera, got a degree in his home country of Venezuela and one in Texas. “The main difference from the two colleges I went to is that in my country we didn’t have technology, so we had to memorize everything, and I feel like it made me smarter,” Barrera said. “Then I come here and there’s multiple choice. We didn’t have multiple choice in my country. The Americans weren’t not passing English, and I was!” He exclaimed. “The one fear I had coming to America was the fear of not knowing the culture, the language, the money the people, and being alone, but you will overcome it eventually,” he said. “I would absolutely recommend studying abroad because you not only see a different culture and learn from it, you’ll probably meet people from all over the world, Barrera said. “Which exposes you to not only the culture of where you are, but the culture of other countries,” Barrera said. If you have the opportunity to study abroad, take it. Make memories, experience new things, and dive into the unknown. You never know when you’ll get another chance to explore and see the world with your own eyes, so make the most of it while you can.