Culture/Language Course- Nicaragua

Class Description 

Freshman Year Experience is a Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Sciences Course that offers Ohio State University Freshmen the opportunity to experience Nicaraguan culture while learning about sustainable agricultural practices in Nicaragua. The goal of this course is to bring freshmen students together while taking them out of their comfort zone and introducing them to the breadth of experiences available to them in the world.

Class Reflection

This course did more than teach me about agriculture. This course allowed me the opportunity to interact with real people with different values and life challenges than me. I learned from this experience what it means to live in the United States and how much of a privilege it truly is. There was a lot of political tension while we were in Nicaragua. The educational opportunities available to us here in the United States are taken for granted. There are so many people in these other countries that are not given the opportunities that we deem as normal for the average person here in the United States. I bonded with people in Nicaragua that I will probably never see again. Knowing that as we left their village all that we would carry with us from that point on was a memory of their existence shows the disconnect that is evident between technologically advanced countries and undeveloped countries. People were concerned for our safety as we travelled to Nicaragua because of Zika Virus, political tensions, diseases, etc., , but they forget that there are people that live in these countries that face these challenges everyday and that is more of a reason to go. The people I met in Nicaragua were some of the happiest people I have ever met. Two nights of our trip were a home stay where I lived with a family. I learned so much from them. I will never forget dancing with the children to a small battery powered radio and hoping the wind wouldn’t cause the lightbulb in the room to go out so that we could keep dancing and smiling and laughing. None of us spoke each other’s languages but we still managed to communicate and have an understanding of each other. I spoke a bit of fragmented Spanish that gave me the opportunity to tell them how much I appreciated their kindness and for letting me stay at their home, however I could communicate that through means other than words. I hope to travel back to Nicaragua at some point, as this has been my favorite study abroad experience.