Julia Bass

Education Abroad

My STEP project was a program provided by a travel and volunteer abroad program called Amizade. I stayed six weeks in Bolivia, where I volunteered everyday at a children’s center, and took classes in Spanish. During the weekends, I attended different cultural activities to learn more about Spanish and the culture of Bolivia.

Many of my assumptions and understandings about the world and myself changed during my trip to Bolivia. The first one would be my own understanding of my capacity to live independently. While I did live with a host family while I was in Bolivia, most of my day to day operations all had to be carried out by me. Before going on this trip, I never had lived in a situation where I was truly on my own, at school, if I was running late to class I could just hop on a bus and be at class in no time, however in Bolivia, if I missed my bus or I missed the stop I would have to navigate in a city I knew nothing about to get me back to my designated location. Secondly, my understandings of my career aspirations and my passions in life also become more clear to me as the trip went on. The volunteer service that I did was very much in line with what I had assumed would be my career path before taking the trip, and after having been on the trip I am more sure than ever that it is what I want to pursue.

Secondly, I would say that my assumptions and understandings about other countries transformed as well. I always grew up assuming things like dinner being the main meal of the day, and businesses being open on Sundays, two things that were completely different in Bolivia. My understandings of what a good quality of life changed when I realized that many of the simply pleasures that we have in the US are not simple pleasures in Bolivia. Living without air conditioning and bugs everywhere became just a part of life rather than an inconvenience. Lastly, I, similar to getting used to a lack of air and abundance of bugs, realized over time the amount of resources that we are gifted with in the US that aren’t as available in Bolivia making me more grateful of all that is available to me. 

There were a few key aspects of my trip that I can attribute to my transformation. When discussing my personal transformation and increase of independence, I would say using daily transportation in a non native language really made me become not only better at the language, but also better at being aware of my surroundings hence making me able to survive independently. When driving home or to a location, I had to use my knowledge and memory of the area to be able to get to the correct place. Internet connection was not always available, so many times I would have to resort to learning and memorizing certain landmarks to get me to where I needed to be. This is something I never had to rely on ever before in my life, and it has made me a better driver as I am home now and all around more aware of what is going on around me in my life. 

Next, my experiences volunteering at the children’s center, and the relationships that I built with the workers and children immensely impacted my transformation by furthering my assuredness in pursuing a career in pediatric occupational therapy. The venter that I worked with provided physical therapy, as well as educational, social, and emotional therapy for children with mental disabilities. Previous to this trip, I had no real confirmation of what my passions in life were, I knew what I was studying was enjoyable, but I had no way of really knowing and understanding things that I am truly passionate about. I believe that in finding a career, knowing your own passions is one of the most important pieces to the puzzle so that you can make sure that you work in something that you would enjoy for a lifetime. After working with the children everyday for six weeks, and seeing the dedication for these children from the staff, I know that I want to be able to feel that outpouring of love and admiration for the rest of my own life. While the government may not have many resources for the children, the people at the center worked with everything they had, using and old swim club center to build the program and mostly unpaid interns for the day to day operations. I became very grateful for the what previously seemed like limited resources that children in the same situations in the US are afforded. 

Overall, my world view change cant be summed up in one event or activity, but rather my daily interactions with the people really accumulated into my increased awareness for different ways of life. Living everyday usually without air conditioning, and getting used to not having a large dinner everyday, and getting used to the weekly routines like on Sundays how the whole city seemed to shut down for church services all combined into my transformation. While not every change was something grand every time, as the weeks went on I found myself adapting and changing so much so that I never again would take for granted even the smallest things in life.

As stated before, the two main parts of my trip continued for the weeks I was in Bolivia, my professional and personal development also continued at an exponential rate. Volunteering in a field that I one day plan to work in really cemented my future plans to attend graduate school to obtain a doctorates of occupational therapy. Taking classes every day and reading Spanish literature increased my abilities in speaking and understanding the language, but also developed me as a person with multiple skills to bring to my future careers and interactions with people. When I go to apply for future jobs I have a great multidimensional experience to talk about that aided in my education in ways beyond school and work.