Unique and Perspective-gaining Intercultural Experience

This is an excellent study abroad experience for aspiring SLPs looking for cultural immersion! Although overall it was really great, there were some details I wished I had known. This program is offered as a bilingual immersion to all levels of Spanish learners, but having earned a minor in Spanish through undergrad (but not considered advanced/fluent), I felt a little less prepared with how much I needed at first. However, I definitely learned a lot and came out of the program through perseverance, with improvement and confidence in speaking Spanish. Additionally, Tykes Camp with the kids was a little different than I had expected. It was interacting with the kids directly for 4 full days out of the 2 weeks, and was entirely in Spanish. We even wrote up our evaluation reports in Spanish. This was a surprising little challenge but forced me to learn and grow. During this camp, there was less focus on "speech" therapy and more on behavior regulation, so not quite what I expected to learn or practice, but still very valuable and applicable skills I can take with me into grad school. I loved that as an incoming graduate student, I was given the opportunity to run my own speech evaluation session on my own assigned case (and the undergrads and supervisors observed and assisted) which was a challenge that strengthened my personal and professional growth. Although we traveled there while COVID concerns were still lingering, we made the most of what we were able to do and felt safe. Everyone we met was amazing to work with and the group had so much fun together! The program leaders kept us very busy and I feel we made an impact in the time we were there. I'm very grateful I took the opportunity to experience this!