Study Abroad: An Opportunity for Transformation

If someone a year ago would have told me that I would be in Southern Spain studying at the University of Seville while traveling the rest of Spain and much of Europe on the weekends, I would not have believed them. Having the opportunity to study abroad with Harper’s Honors program this past spring break to Nicaragua solidified my desire to study abroad for a semester. As sappy as it sounds, studying abroad in both Nicaragua and Sevilla has impacted my life in countless ways that I am beyond thankful for. Studying abroad has allowed me to bridge cultural gaps. In doing so, I am able put myself in other’s shoes from around the world. For example, in Nicaragua, my class and I took Spanish lessons through La Mariposa Spanish School. My Spanish teacher, Johanna, often discussed everyday issues that Nicaraguans face in society, one of them being the large number of teenage pregnancies that occur at such a young age. Johanna pointed out that a large problem contributing to the high teenage pregnancy rate is that many parents feel uncomfortable educating their own children about sex. The lack of sexual education from both the household and the Nicaraguan education system leads to a large number of teenage pregnancies. Just as I became educated on Nicaragua’s teenage pregnancy issue, my host sister here in Seville often asks me about the U.S. controversies that is splitting our country in two. By bridging these cultural gaps, it allows for more educated citizens in today's globalized society.  

Along with the capability to empathize with others, comes the opportunity to apply what I have learned in class to the real world. For instance, in Professor Johnson’s Honors English 102 class to Nicaragua, we studied a variety of International Service learning theories that explored different manners to support a local community. Studying these theories before the trip aided me in seeing the real-world application during our service projects and nightly reflections.

Professor Johnson’s class also assisted in how we can find different opportunities to support our own local community, such as our class trip to OTIS fresh farms in Chicago (pictured left). 

Additionally, the Seville Cathedral helped me in understanding the amount of wealth that went back to the Catholic church during the colonization period. In Professor Richmond’s History of Latin America class, I learned that the wealth from the Spanish colonies was brought back to the Catholic church during the colonization era. Being able to visibly see the size of the cathedral as well as the amount of gold and silver inside that was brought back from the Americas put into context the extent of how wealthy the Catholic church was, and arguably still is.