| Aida Del Moral |
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| "When you study abroad, it forces you to discover who you are . . ." |
Aida Del Moral knew she had to study abroad to earn her international business minor. What she didn’t know was how much it would affect her once she returned home.
“When you study abroad, it forces you to discover who you are, where you are, and where you want to go,” she said. “No one is going to take care of you. You have to take care of yourself.”
Del Moral spent four months in Grenada, Spain taking business classes taught in Spanish and interning at Agrupalia, a web content manager, where she worked as a translator. She also took time to visit London, Barcelona, and Rome. Del Moral said the experience made the world seem a little larger.
“When you are in class and you are looking at a place on a map, it is just another part of the world,” she said. “It becomes more real to you after you have visited there. A map is just a piece of paper until you come back, point to the place you visited, and say, ‘I was there.’”
Del Moral believes study abroad enhances students’ experiences at TLU because it makes them more interested in learning something different from what they are used to learning in the classroom. It also makes students more accepting of others who are different.
Her study abroad experience convinced Del Moral that she wants somehow to travel with her job after she graduates in May. She intends to use her experiences to help others, and has decided to join the Peace Corps. The classes she took and her internship showed her how business functions outside the United States, and she now plans to use her experiences to work in places where economic development is needed.
“I’m not in business to make money,” she said. “I want to use my skills to help people, whether it is in Mexico or in my hometown of Houston.”
By Sarah Prisk
Junior communicaton studies major | Andrew King |
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| "This experience has made me capable of surviving in a variety of situations." |
When Andrew King decided he wanted to study abroad, he took advantage of the opportunity to go somewhere nontraditional and walked away with a unique experience.
King chose to participate in the Augsburg College Center for Global Education “Sustainable Development and Social Change in Latin America” program, which includes five months studying abroad in Central and South America.
“I chose this program because I really wanted to become better at Spanish,” said King.
“It is important for us as Americans to learn about the cultures and languages of other nations. Another reason I chose this program was that it was a multi-destination program, meaning I would have the chance to travel to several different countries during my experience.”
King had the chance to travel to three different nations during his trip.
“I studied in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. During my time in Latin America, I lived with local families and interacted with government officials, political figures and local inhabitants,” King said.
Some of the fun Andrew had included summiting Tojomoco, the highest mountain in Central America, located in Guatemala. He also climbed an active volcano in Nicaragua and attended the Guatemala vs. USA World Cup qualifying soccer match.
King stressed that his study abroad experience was a unique one.
“I experienced a variety of cultures and was exposed to extreme poverty, disease and natural disasters such as mudslides and hurricanes,” King said. “This experience has made me capable of surviving in a variety of situations.”
King came away from this adventure with “deep respect for the people who have survived horrendous experiences.”
According to Andrew, “Studying abroad turned me into less of a passive learner and into a greater questioner. I would definitely do something like this again.”
By Sarah Saatzer
Senior communicaton studies major | Ashley Bathe |
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| "This experience has deeply impacted my life . . ." |
While studying abroad last year, I went to Morroco during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
At first, I felt like my faith, my culture, my nationality, and, essentially, everything about my way of life was in contrast with this place. I learned there are also many parallels. We both suffer stereotypes and generalizations, but there are many who seek understanding. We had a conversation with a local professor who helped to explain Moroccan, Arabic, and Muslim society further. I found so many merits of the culture, but I still felt a little defensive of my own. Their devotion to religion, family and community were inspiring and I hope to incorporate some of those morals and values into my way of life – values such as their duty to charity and the painstaking way that they analyze and evaluate modern concepts in order to adapt them into their traditional lives.
We stayed with a family in a small Berber village in the Rif Mountains.
It was awkward at first, but the family there quickly became like our own. We also were able to speak to the family (via a relative who knew English) about their life in the village. They live very simply on only a few dollars a day, but they always had enough food to go around, a TV, and a zest for life.
The spunky grandma, Fati, had created the village’s women’s association that was responsible for creating a passable road to the
village, a hospital, and a beekeeping program and other agricultural businesses for women. Fati was sweet and at times, she was tough and was not afraid of anything. Her character and accomplishments are truly inspiring, yet she was one of the most humble women I’ve met. Their life seemed so beautifully simple, but I can’t even imagine knowing only this way of life.
I have never felt so truly welcome and loved like I was in Morocco. This experience has deeply impacted my life, and I hope that others will continue to have opportunities such as this one.
♦
By Ashley Bathe
Senior business major
