Why did you study abroad with API in Argentina?
Patrick: I know students have different ways of going about choosing a country and a program, but mine went so: one of my main goals in my abroad experience was to become more comfortable speaking Spanish. I chose South America because there are so many places one can go to learn Spanish. Then I asked other students in my university's Spanish program what partner programs they would recommend. The most positive reviews came from students who had traveled with API. API also had all the aspects of a program I wanted, including home stays and travel excursions to other parts of the country. After that, I looked at the programs they offered in South America because I had never experienced that before.
What made your study abroad experience unique and special?
Patrick: I do not like to think about my experience as particularly unique. That is not a negative thing by any means. Instead, I like to think about my experience as a time period of solidarity. Most people that were in my program were in a similar situation as me. Our Spanish skills were not the best, we had not lived in a city as big as Buenos Aires before and we did not know anyone we were going to study with. Because of that, we all knew we had to stick together and conquer the city and experience as a group.
Yes, we all have our own stories, but everyone has their own stories. I like to think of it more as the memories we get to share together that make something like studying abroad truly impressive, powerful and lasting. We can also pass those memories on to people who will study abroad in the future, so they will be able to know the best restaurant or hostel, eat the same meal we ate months before or sleeping in the same bed we slept in last year, and be in the same place we were at a different time. It is kind of like sharing a memory but there is a temporal chasm in between the experiences which makes the memory last longer and makes it richer. If we all have our own, unique experiences, it is kind of isolating and there is less room to share with others.
How has this experience impacted your future?
Patrick: For one thing, I feel much more comfortable with my Spanish skills. I just passed my oral exam this week that is required to major in Spanish at my university and that happened months after I returned from South America. I also learned how to be a citizen in a city that is so big. Taking public transport every day because you do not own a car and eating choripan cooked by street vendors really made me appreciate what it means to be a participant in a city. That will carry with me to whatever city I may live in. Support the city that you live in, I guess is what I am trying to say I learned.
One other thing that I learned that is really important to me is that people are people. No matter where you go, once you break past the shock of being in a different culture, everyone is the same. Again, that is not a negative thing at all. Rather you can make friends anywhere and those friends will last, as friends should. My host family treated me like a member of the family and I felt at home. I even got to go to my host brother's wedding and reception. Carmen, the program director, was also like a mother and made everything so comfortable and really helped the group I studied with bond together. So the idea of traveling to me is less daunting because I know that wherever I go, I will be able to find something or someone that reminds me of the familiar.
Of course, you learn loads about yourself while studying abroad too, and it takes a lot of inward critical thinking to understand the dynamics of change and how to go with the flow while still being an active member of life. I guess I am still learning about this but studying abroad was definitely the catalyst in that change in my worldview.