Emily Nothnagle’s STEP Reflection

My STEP Signature Project was studying Swahili through the U.S. Department of State’s virtual Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program. As a CLS Swahili Scholar, I took part in daily language classes with a small group of American students and a Tanzanian professor. Additionally, there were weekly cultural sessions with wafanya biashara(businessmen) and one-on-one language partner sessions twice a week in which I learned about Tanzanian culture and informal Swahili speaking practices.

Studying Swahili through CLS was incredibly transformational. Throughout this eight-week program, my view of the world changed as I gained intercultural competence. In addition to participating in structured language classes, I also partook in eight different cultural sessions that featured a variety of wafanya biashara(businessmen and businesswomen) as guest speakers. Each of these speakers shared a bit about their business and how that impacted the greater community. Despite the fact that CLS was virtual this year, so I could not actually be in Tanzania, I learned so much about Tanzania culture ranging from the importance of cash crops like coffee to cooking and restaurant business to sustainability practices. Prior to CLS, I was largely unfamiliar with the cultures of East Africa, so learning about the different community members in Tanzania and their impact through the CLS culture sessions was transformational as I compared it to my own experiences in the United States.

Additionally, my understanding of myself transformed through CLS and STEP. As I significantly improved my Swahili proficiency in all aspects, I also improved my overall communication skills as I worked with people from different backgrounds. At the beginning of the program, there were many moments in which I felt that I could not properly express myself in Swahili; I did not have an extensive vocabulary in this foreign language and there are not often direct translations from English to Swahili. Fortunately, I developed several key relationships that helped me not only overcome this language barrier, but also unlock a new part of my personality.

My Tanzanian Swahili professor, Mwalimu Maureen, was incredibly influential in my cultural journey. Her patience and sense of humor made classes fun and interesting. She always encouraged me and the other students in my class to leave our comfort zones. The four other wanafunzi(students) in my class were also instrumental in my transformational experience. There was a real sense of community in the classroom; together, we learned to be open-minded and understand different points of view that came from each other and the Tanzanians we met. Thanks to my classmates, I learned to laugh at myself when making mistakes – and there were plenty of them!

Another relationship that greatly impacted me was that with my rafiki wa lugha(language partner), Neema. Neema and I video chatted twice a week for one hour each entirely in Swahili. At first, these sessions were incredibly daunting; I could not imagine ever knowing enough to fill up an entire hour of casual conversation in Swahili! However, thanks to my perseverance and Neema’s patience, by the end of the program, I was able to do so without any translational aids! Neema and I gave each other tours of places around MS-TCDC and Ohio State, respectively, and frequently shared children’s stories and fairy tales with each other. I learned a lot about Tanzanian culture through Neema’s stories and the experiences she shared with me.

Overall, my STEP Signature Project and participation in CLS has helped me grow as a student and as a person. Learning a new language is hard, and I had to develop strong time management skills in order to balance class, culture sessions, meetings with my language partner, and studying. With the added wrinkle of the COVID-19 pandemic, I needed to adapt to rapidly changing situations and be tolerant of ambiguity. I am so grateful for the experience of working with people of different backgrounds across cultures. I know that my Swahili proficiency will continue to grow through my studies, and that my overall communication skills in Swahili or English will be help me in my career and for the rest of my life.

STEP Reflection

Preface: I know this project is currently posted under the wrong category (it should be under Leadership), but I only have access to the Education Abroad category since that was my original intended project category. I will repost this under Leadership once I have access and am only posting it here to ensure STEP’s 30-day reflection deadline is met.

 

For my STEP project, I took a course in wilderness first aid through the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). Upon completing the course, I earned my wilderness first aid certification.

While completing my STEP signature project, I learned about what it takes to be responsible for the safety of others and how to help people in need. In outdoor recreation, there is always a possibility of accidents that require help from someone else, and I realized that the person who helps them could be me. This experience helped me learn skills and gain the confidence to apply them. From taking this course and earning my wilderness medicine certification, I not only gained the skills to provide basic wilderness first aid but also accepted a certain obligation to use my skills should it ever be necessary.

First, I learned about the goals and limits of wilderness first aid. “Wilderness” scenarios refer to situations where professional medical help is not close by, and basic first aid may need to be performed by other rescuers. Also, it is important to know the limits of your own training: from taking this course, I am only certified to perform basic patient assessment and first aid and should seek to evacuate the patient in case of serious emergency to people with more advanced training. The goal of my training is to make patients’ situations safer until professional medical help arrives. It is important to know the limitations of your training, both for your own legal protection and for the safety of the patient.

Second, my experience was shaped by learning how to communicate effectively with patients in potential medical emergency scenarios. The process of treatment starts with obtaining a patient’s consent for treatment. I learned the steps of patient assessment, including how to perform a basic physical exam and how to obtain any information relevant to treatment for the patient. Since I have no medical training and only a basic first aid certification, my communication as a rescuer with the patient is often more important to ensuring their safety than any treatment I may provide. Overall, clear communication and staying calm are two of the most important techniques for finding the best way to treat a patient in wilderness situations.

Finally, I learned tangible first aid skills and had the opportunity to practice them in simulated scenarios. These skills included blood cleanup, bandaging, and treatment of heat/cold-related illnesses. I also got to practice taping ankles and making splints. Additionally, I learned how to use an epinephrine auto-injector and obtained a specific certification for using one as part of the course. These tangible skills will be useful if I ever have to treat someone in a real-life wilderness emergency situation.

The skills I learned from my STEP signature project represent a positive developmental experience in my life. I was able to learn skills that could help me in outdoor recreation situations, which is one of my main extracurricular interests. Additionally, the chance to practice those skills has increased my confidence so that I could feel comfortable using them in a real-life scenario should the need arise. I hope to carry this extra confidence over into other areas of my life, such as my career, interviewing, and professional networking endeavors. Additionally, I believe my experience made me a better communicator, and I can also carry that over into other areas of my life. From my STEP project, I gained both tangible skills in wilderness first aid and real-world personal skills that can help me in other areas of my life.

Emily Schaefer STEP Reflection

  1. For my STEP Signature Project, I took acting classes through the local Columbus acting studio Broadway2LA. During this 8 week acting course, I learned techniques that helped advance my skills as an actress, practiced scenes from different genres of cinema, attended my first red carpet event, and met incredible people throughout the entire process. At the end of this course, our skills as actors and actresses culminated in our final acting showcase, where our pre-filmed scenes were premiered for family, friends, and talent agents on Saturday, March 13th. 

 

2.) While completing my STEP Project, I feel that my view of myself has completely changed. Growing up, I had always wanted to pursue a career in the acting field. However, I decided to pursue a different career path upon attending college. Since given the opportunity to take these acting classes, I feel that I’ve been able to dig deep and find those passionate qualities within myself again. I didn’t even realize how much I’d missed acting until taking these classes. During these classes, I felt so free to be myself and to express myself more openly than I had been able to in a long time. By trying to solely focus on my academic goals for the past few years, I feel that I lost a bit of that creative aspect that I’ve cherished for so long. I’ve come to realize that my passions don’t have to be separated from my career paths, as I’ve found that the best way to be happy in life is to combine passion with my skill set and always pursue my dreams.

 

3.) Throughout my entire STEP Project, I had so many incredible experiences that helped to shape my personal and professional transformation. One of the largest contributions to this transformation was the fact that each week, we were able to practice and perform scenes together as a group. We were able to work on different scenes with different combinations of actors in order to help advance our skills as individual actors and actresses. I was able to perform scenes of different genres, including romance, crime, drama and non-fiction. Additionally, my acting instructors were able to use their knowledge of the field to teach us different acting techniques and exercises to further improve our acting skills. 

 

Throughout the 8 week course, I was able to work with different actors to perfect different aspects of my practiced scenes. However, for a few weeks of the course, we were divided into groups of three people to work on one particular scene together to perform for the final showcase. For my scene, I was assigned Taylor and Philomena as my scene partners, and we were basically a combination of the characters in Mean Girls and The Three Stooges. For our scene, the three of us girls played three friends who just committed a murder by pushing an SUV over a cliff. This scene contained a great deal of humorous dialogue mixed with the comedy of the three inexperienced murderers who just happened to find themselves in this situation. After weeks of practicing and preparing this scene, I found myself extremely comfortable when filming for the final showcase. By having the ability to practice in-person with my fellow actors, I was able to advance my own skills by learning to work with other people on the big screen. After this course, the friendships I made have continued to hold strong, and I’m more than excited to see the next projects my classmates will be working on in the future. 

The final showcase for my acting course occurred this past Saturday, March 13th. For this showcase, our final scenes debuted in front of family, friends, and casting directors. Each of our three-person scenes premiered on the big screen, as we all sat in the audience of the Dublin Theatre, watching ourselves on film for the first time. After our scenes premiered, we made our way to the red carpet, where a photographer took amazing photos of those in attendance. Being in the moment and attending this premiere, I took a moment to reflect within myself. I had never thought that I would be attending a red carpet premiere, much less watching myself on the big screen. The moment was absolutely surreal, and I realized that this was something I could see myself doing for the rest of my life. If a movie premiere event in Columbus, Ohio was this thrilling, I couldn’t even imagine what a Hollywood premiere would have in store!

 

4.) Personally, I think that taking this acting class has given me one of the most valuable and incredible transformations of my life. The opportunities this acting class gave me were unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before. I feel that my eyes were once again opened to the passion that I had experienced in my life growing up in the theatre world. My mom always used to tell me that I was a natural onstage, therefore I found my home once again by taking this acting class. Moving forward, I know now that I always want acting to be part of my life. I want to explore my options onstage, while pursuing my academic passion of becoming an attorney as well. I haven’t yet learned how I would like to mix these two together, but I’m very excited to figure it out. 

STEP Reflection

STEP Post-Project Reflection Prompts

 

As you may recall from your STEP Signature Project Proposal, your project was designed to foster transformational learning—that is, learning that challenged you personally and helped you gain broader and deeper understandings of yourself, others, and the world around you. Please address the following prompts to help you reflect on your experiences following the completion of your STEP Signature Project; please give careful and critical thought to your responses.

 

  1. Please provide a brief description of your STEP Signature Project. Write two or three sentences describing the main activities your STEP Signature Project entailed.

 

My STEP Signature Project was a liberal arts with locals study abroad trip to Lima, Peru. During this trip, I was supposed to attend a local Peruvian university with both other international students and native Peruvians while doing a homestay in the city of Lima.  Here I was going to not only improve my Spanish speaking capabilities in the classroom, but also my ability to converse with people in day to day interactions. However, many of my plans did not come to fruition due to the emergence and spread of COVID-19. As a result of the virus’ spread, my program was cancelled and I was flown back to the United States through the U.S. Embassy in late March.

 

  1. What about your understanding of yourself, your assumptions, or your view of the world changed/transformed while completing your STEP Signature Project? Write one or two paragraphs to describe the change or transformation that took place.

 

Many things about my understanding of myself, my assumptions and my views of the world were changed during my STEP Signature Project, the most significant being my feeling of privilege to live in such a wealthy and developed nation where we have so much. Throughout my time in Peru, I saw many people that were struggling for things that we would consider basic in the United States, like running water and electricity. Additionally, I saw how much of a difference there is between the U.S. dollar and other currencies. I was able to buy almost anything I wanted in Peru due to the strength of our currency, while native Peruvians were not. Both of these experiences gave me a great sense of gratitude to have what I have and opened my eyes to how much of a difference there is between the country I come from and others around the world.

 

  1. What events, interactions, relationships, or activities during your STEP Signature Project led to the change/transformation that you discussed in #2, and how did those affect you? Write three or four paragraphs describing the key aspects of your experiences completing your STEP Signature Project that led to this change/transformation.

 

One of the first changes that took place regarding my understanding of myself and my view of the world was when I made my first purchases at a local food store using the money I had converted to Peruvian Soles. My family and I are part of the middle class in the U.S. and therefore, we often do not struggle for much financially. However, when I made my first purchases at the food store, I realized just how well off most Americans are in comparison to those around the world due to the strength of the U.S. dollar. Upon making those purchases, I immediately felt very grateful to come from such a wealthy country and to be a part of my family where we do not have need for much.

 

Another change that took place regarding my understanding of myself and my assumptions was when I began speaking Spanish to people who did not know I was fluent. During my time in Peru, most people assumed that because I was white, I was from the U.S. and did not speak Spanish. However, when I began speaking to people in Spanish, many of the conversations I was having changed. There was a sense of understanding and a level of comfort that immediately increased. This made me realize that learning and speaking another language greatly impacts not only on the individual learning the language, but also the interactions that they will have with other people while speaking.

 

The final change that took place during my trip was when my fellow ISA students and I were about to begin the day of orientation at the Peruvian university and received news that, due to COVID-19, the president of Peru had closed the country’s borders and shut down all the schools. Upon hearing this news, my fellow students and I were immediately forced to find arrangements to leave the country as soon as possible, or else we would risk being stuck in Peru until further notice. During the next week and a half, I was constantly communicating with my program coordinator, ISA staff, Ohio State staff and my parents to try and coordinate all the information we had to arrange a flight home. This was a time of great stress, but it also provided many opportunities for improving communication and problem solving between everyone involved.

 

 

  1. Why is this change/transformation significant or valuable for your life? Write one or two paragraphs discussing why this change or development matters and/or relates to your academic, personal, and/or professional goals and future plans

 

Although my trip to Peru was short, I learned a lot in my time there that will help me in both my personal and professional life. The communication skills that developed under the stress of quarantine in a foreign country will certainly be useful in my personal life and career, as so often communication falters during stressful times. Additionally, the changes that occurred in my mind regarding the impact of speaking another person’s language will certainly prove useful, as I plan to become a Spanish teacher after graduating college. So often language instruction can feel like a monotonous task that has no practical application due to a lack of personal experience in both the teacher and the students. However, I will be able to pull from my real-world experience of communicating with people in Peru to provide examples for my students of the impact of speaking another language and the effect that it has on better understanding and relating to people of other cultures. Furthermore, I can plan to give them similar opportunities to practice speaking the language with native speakers in hopes that they can experience a glimpse of what I was able to during my time in Peru.

My Experience in Brazil

My STEP project entailed traveling to Brazil, and studying in Curitiba, Parana. In March I was forced to leave due to the CEO of Brazilian Experience cancelling the program on zero notice and so I went to live with family in São Paulo.

I had always been told to trust people with authority, power, and position. After this experience, I have completely thrown that out of the window. I have worked with invoices and contracts for years, working in corporate positions and owning my own business. What I have always believed is that our word is our bond, and when two people agree to the terms of the contract, that BOTH sides are bound by those terms. This experience has taught me that there are people who do not operate in such a manner. I have learned that such things are acts of good faith, and unless enforced by legal action they mean nothing. 

I put my life in the hands of this company, the ultimate form of trust, only to be treated as if my health and safety is worthless. I had exchanged emails with Rafaela Rolim several weeks before I left for Brazil. Under her direction I was told to apply for a Brazilian visa, knowing that I am a Brazilian citizen. I trusted her (and didn’t know any better) and ended up wasting a trip to the Brazilian Consulate in Washington D.C. along with $120 worth of processing fees for a visa I´m ineligible to even apply for.

Once I arrived in Brazil, the assurance from Rafaela was almost constant. She assured that whatever I needed that she and her people would help me. I, gave her and her people a second chance when I trusted them to help me obtain a CPF, the brazilian equivalent of a taxpayer ID. They directed me to the agency and told me the documents needed and I followed everything to a T. I woke up at 4 in the morning to be one of the first people in line, per their instruction. I ended up waiting behind a line before me several hours only to get rejected and told that I didn’t have the sufficient documentation.

The last straw was in the weeks leading to the outbreak of the coronavirusRafaela and the people were often asking me if I was “OK.” I found it considerate that they asked about our mental health in a difficult time. Among all the confusion going on, she seemed to be working for us, talking with homestays and OSU, claiming to monitor the status of the outbreak. Then on a random evening in March Rafaela called my homestay and called me after. Rather than be honest about the situation, she claimed that the program would be “paused” and put “on hold.” I had to press her for her to admit that the program was cancelled. She cut the program abruptly and told me I had to get the next flight out of Brazil. I knew she was hesitant to use the word ‘cancel’ because I had read the terms and agreements of the contract that was part of the invoice for the program fee. It was clearly stated that if the program was cancelled by her and her company that students were owed a full refund. When I confronted her about this, Rafaela only said she would try to get the tuition refunded, which was only a small part of the fee. The majority of the program fee went to her and her company, and that was when I realized she completely broke the terms of her own contract and refused to acknowledge it.

This experience has been invaluable to me. It was important for me to understand that at the end of the day, a contract is still a piece of paper. I plan on working with contracts for the rest of my life as a business owner, in my goal to work in real estate and logistics.While it was unfortunate that I have lost a lot of money to slimy business, I now recognize the importance of not only reviewing terms and conditions for myself, but going over it with the other side and confirming all the action that will and won’t be taken should the contract be broken or its requirements not be met.

Academic Year in Japan

I chose to use my STEP project funds for my academic year study abroad program to the International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan. I spent the year studying the Japanese language and culture at the university while participating in cultural exchanges with native Japanese students and other international students. I also experienced traveling around Japan and visited different cultural heritage sites and other local specialties.

Spending this year in Japan was an extremely transformative process. My understanding of myself, my assumptions towards others, and my view of the world all changed.  As I had never been outside of the country or away from my family for this long before, I was extremely nervous before beginning my program. I was worried about things like not having the Japanese skill to successfully make my way from the airport to my Airbnb, and not being able to make Japanese friends. I lacked the confidence in myself to believe that I had the ability to make the most out of this program. I could not have been more wrong. Throughout this program, I learned more about myself then ever before. As my Japanese language skill grew, so did my confidence in using Japanese conversationally to learn more about the Japanese people around me. I pushed myself to join clubs and participate in activities that actively pushed the boundaries of what I assumed about the world. Coming into this program, I already had preconceived notions of what I thought Japanese culture would be like, which were all blown away by the end of the program. Japanese culture is so much more nuanced that what is seen from the outside, and I learned the dangers of assuming that you know something about that which you have never experienced. My world view expanded, and I realized that things I have experienced through my life are not necessarily shared experiences by everyone I meet.

My relationship with my Japanese roommates was one of the experiences that brought about the most change within myself. I lived in a unit with three other girls, all of which are native Japanese. As such, the primary language we used to communicate with each other is Japanese. Through numerous daily communications with them, my Japanese language ability grew exponentially as I had the opportunity to use it every day. It was also a way to become good friends with native Japanese people and learn their perspective on different levels. The four of us made a conscious effort to take one trip together every month. Together we ate delicious food, went to a trampoline park, and even went to Tokyo Disneyland. Making native Japanese friends can be hard for foreigners, but these trips allowed me an insight into what normal Japanese girls do for fun. My confidence in my Japanese grew alongside my ability to communicate with them, and my world view shifted as I came to understand their perspective on several different issues. I treasure the memories I made with them on this program and how they shaped me to become a better person.

The second experience that led to my transformation was my participation in the Japanese Traditional Dance Club. This club was overseen by two Japanese Traditional Dance masters, as they taught us several dances which members then got to perform at the end of term performance. I was invited to this club by my other exchange student friend, and I was initially hesitant. I am not the greatest dancer and thought I might have a hard time with it. After the first practice session, however, I was in love. The dance style we were taught is completely unlike any form of Western dance I have seen, as the motions are extremely controlled and delicate. The beauty in the dance comes from subtle movements that tell an overall story. Through this club I got to experience an art form that is uniquely Japanese, and got to experience wearing a kimono, traditional Japanese dress. I also had the opportunity to interact with Japanese dance masters. In Japanese culture, treating elders with respect is so important, that it is even built into the language. Different grammar forms and words are used with those above you, and so I got the ability to practice that with our elder teachers. Before I came to Japan, I thought interacting with elders might be difficult because of this, but the teachers were so welcoming and accommodating that my fears were blown away. I also was called upon to translate for the rest of the exchange students in the club, which also made my confidence within myself grow. Unfortunately, our later performances were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but I fell so in love with this dance form that if I return to Japan, I would love to start doing it again. I likely would never have known this dance existed if I had not come to Japan and because of it I learned so much.

The third event that led to the changes within myself was the amount of travel I did within Japan. I knew before coming that I wanted to try and see as much of Japan as possible. Over the course of this program, I went to the cities of Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Kobe, Niigata, Matsumoto, Sapporo, and many more. I also traveled extensively within the city of Tokyo and its surrounding suburbs. Throughout my travels I saw wonders that I could never have imagined. I visited multiple Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, saw natural wonders of Japan, and experienced many regional food delights. Although Japan may seem like a completely homogeneous country from the outside, I saw a lot of variation within all the places that I went.  My view of the world expanded each time I took in the culture of each city. Different cities practiced different cultural rules and took different approaches to food and hospitality. I was able to practice my Japanese in a variety of different situations, and when my family visited, tried my best to translate the menu of a 6 course meal at a Japanese traditional inn. The souvenirs and memories I collected throughout these travels will stay with me for the rest of my life. Moving forward, all these experiences have made me a completely different person then who I was before the trip, and I could not be more thankful for how it has improved my confidence and world view.

This program fulfilled a personal goal that I have had since I was a child. I have always wanted to live in Japan, and this program gave me the opportunity to be able to learn what that would be like so I can apply it to other academic, professional, and future goals. One academic goal I had coming into this program was to improve my Japanese in speaking, writing, and reading. I believe that total immersion in the country of your target language is the best way to improve, and that belief turned out to be true. Japanese uses Chinese characters in its writing and reading system, and right from the start I was surrounded by them. This did wonders for my reading ability, as I picked up several characters a day. My speaking and conversational ability also vastly improved. I interacted with native Japanese speakers in my dorm daily, and my Japanese language classes were conducted entirely in Japanese. I presented projects and wrote formal reports in Japanese. As such, my Japanese language ability rapidly improved. The Japanese program at the International Christian University has great teachers, who also teach about Japanese culture alongside the language. The program prepared me so well I am currently studying for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, which will aid me in my goals to use Japanese in my professional life.

Besides just improving my language ability, this program also prepared me for fulfilling my future professional goals. It made me come to the realization that I want to use Japanese in my professional career, and that I want to focus on translating. It also exposed me to industries that have a need for Japanese translation that I had not known of before. Video games, movies, and professional industries like shipping and manufacturing all need Japanese translators. Many of those at my dorm were seniors, and through them I came to understand what job hunting in Japan looks like, and what was expected of applicants throughout that process. This gave me a clear idea of what I need to do during my senior year at OSU to accomplish working as a translator. As I mentioned before, this includes taking the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, but I also now know of job fairs that are specifically geared towards those wanting to work in Japan that I am interested in attending. As I move forward into accomplishing my professional goals, my study abroad year in Japan will prove invaluable in the connections and experience that it brought me.

Study Abroad Sevilla

  1. Please provide a brief description of your STEP Signature Project. Write two or three sentences describing the main activities your STEP Signature Project entailed.

 

My STEP Signature Project was an Education Abroad experience to Seville, Spain through OSU and Connecting Worlds Abroad. I was there from January until March, however the program was shortened due to COVID-19. I was there to study Spanish exclusively with native Spanish speakers in my home and in the classroom., and I also participated in a program-led weekend excursion to Madrid and Toledo to explore the country better.

 

  1. What about your understanding of yourself, your assumptions, or your view of the world changed/transformed while completing your STEP Signature Project? Write one or two paragraphs to describe the change or transformation that took place.

 

While completing my STEP Signature Project, my assumptions about the country of Spain itself changed because I was able to witness the culture on a first-hand basis. My idea about religion in the country changed the most because most people from the United States imagine Spaniards to be very religious, when in fact only about 10-20% of the country are practicing Catholics. Citizens see Catholicism more as part of their culture and not a religion to be practiced like it was in the past.

I also got to see the lifestyle of Spaniards, which was similar, but definitely not what I thought it would be. I knew they were a little more relaxed in their day-to-day lives than citizens from the United States, but it was more than I thought I had more time on my hands even as my class-load increased, which is not something I am used to. I am used to always having something on my list of things to do throughout my day. I was never bored as I found new ways to occupy my time, but it definitely took some getting used to. Now that I am back, I realize I miss that kind of lifestyle, because it fit my personality better than I thought it would. This aspect of the project has definitely changed my understanding of myself and who I am.

 

  1. What events, interactions, relationships, or activities during your STEP Signature Project led to the change/transformation that you discussed in #2, and how did those affect you? Write three or four paragraphs describing the key aspects of your experiences completing your STEP Signature Project that led to this change/transformation.

 

My relationship with my host mom Lucia gave me the best indication of the lifestyle of citizens who live in Seville specifically. She was an older woman who had a very spunky personality and loved to cook. My roommate and I took a little time getting used to the later eating schedule, but we loved our host mom’s cooking. It was with her that we also got the best use of our Spanish. Lucia was the bridge between the lifestyle and culture of the United States and Spain, and her relationship with us was crucial to the adjustment period. She told us places to explore in the city, and was genuinely interested in what we were up to while we were exploring with our friends, If I had been able to stay the full five months, I can’t even imagine how much better our relationship would have been with each other. When I told her that I had to leave so suddenly due to the global situation, her face fell and it was then that I realized how much I cared for her and how much living with her had helped me adjust and fall in love with the culture.

In every new culture and every study abroad program, you forge new and strong relationships with people you know are going through similar things to you. That happened with my closest friends and I after we took a random trip to Portugal. Neither of us knew each other very well, but after that weekend we were all inseparable. We saw each other outside of class almost every day after that trip, and we went through so much together. Although they may not have known if I was struggling to adjust or vice versa, they made it easier to get through the hard days because I knew they were there for me, and in a similar position. We also had plans for the remainder of the program we did not get to experience, but when we all had to come home, we still called each other often and continue to talk almost every day. It may not have turned out the way any of us wanted, but our friendships helped us adjust to the new culture and to the old one when we got home.

With the program itself we took a weekend trip to Toledo and Madrid. There we saw museums, cathedrals, and Carnival While in Toledo, I visited one of the oldest synagogues in Spain and got to show that side of me to my friends. Seeing the synagogue was also important as it demonstrated the presence of other religions. I knew they were present in Spain; however, everyone thinks of Catholicism when they think of Western Europe. Seeing other places of worship outside of Sevilla (where Islam is a great influence on architecture) helped shape my idea about religion in Spain. We also went to a free carnival concert which was one of the highlights of the trip as a whole. This is because we got to experience how they celebrate important holidays. They were all so energetic that we got just as excited even though we had never heard some of the music.

In Madrid we took a tour of the city and got to see the royal palace, giving us a close-up of the governmental structure of Spain. This trip showed me a different part of Spain that I may not have otherwise seen, helping me adjust to the culture even more and showing me how much I truly loved it. Getting to see the lifestyles of Spaniards in other parts of the country exposed me to the culture that the country of Spain holds. Each autonomous community is different, but that does not stop each citizen from embracing their culture as Spaniards. Having the opportunity to travel outside of Andalucía and Seville itself showed me that although lifestyles may be different in other parts of Spain, the culture as a whole is not.

 

  1. Why is this change/transformation significant or valuable for your life? Write one or two paragraphs discussing why this change or development matters and/or relates to your academic, personal, and/or professional goals and future plans

 

This transformation is very valuable to my life because I gained irreplaceable memories that shape who I am now. My Spanish-speaking skills may not be where they could have been had the program continued as normal, but I am significantly better than I was prior to living in Spain. I feel more confident and know that I could continue my skills in the right environment at school and in a career post-graduation. Taking a European Union class in a member nation has also increased my global awareness. I know how the EU works better and I wouldn’t have been able to do that as successfully had I learned about it in the United States. This class has helped me figure out geographical areas I would like to work with in a future career in international affairs. I have always been interested in European global affairs but knowing more about how those affairs are handled have helped me see I want to be a part of that process in any way I can. My knowledge of the EU ad Spanish will greatly increase my chances of doing something like that in a professional capacity.

 

Study Abroad Sevilla

For my project I was supposed to complete a 6 month long be a study abroad in Sevilla, Spain through the program Connecting Worlds Abroad. Due to the current COVID crisis I was forced to return home early in early March. The program I was in is  program has a home-stay component that provided the opportunity to consistently speak and interact with people in Spanish. Through the program I enrolled in 15 credit hours of classes, some will be taught through the COWA program teachers, and one at Universidad de Sevilla where wet I was still in country I was in class with native Spanish speakers. This program also included several excursions to nearby cities, such as Madrid, and to near by historic sites, including Álcazares and Roman ruins. Unfortunately, many of these trip were canceled do to inclement weather then due to COVID. The initial draw of the program was its location in Spain, and the accessibility of the high speed rail, that would have provided the opportunity for me to travel around to different parts of the country, to different countries in Europe, and possibly even to northern Africa. Due to my early departure most of my travel secondary to the program was canceled.

I am unable to say that this was a transformational experience for me because just as I was starting to get used to being in country I was forced to leave. The majority of what I experienced and learned those first few moth was introductory or information that was already familiar with. The only truly transformational thing that I experienced was the noted difference in university culture. College student there are treated as adult who are able to time manage for themselves. There are no daily assignments and attendance is not taken in class, meaning each student is responsible for themselves and does not have to fret over time wasting assignments, which I have found to be common in my classes at OSU.

This allowed my to more clearly acknowledge that the culture of the united sates and the way we educate only ensures that students with develop anxiety, stress, and depression related issues. In Spain the education system encourages life outside of the class room and involvement in the community. In the US we claim to promote such things but in reality students are expected to complete many tedious assignments that the average student barley has time outside of their class work to appreciate their time in college.

Additionally I found my teachers in Spain to be far more invested in the success of there their students, and more actively support students acting proactively to help student that feel are falling behind, instead of leaving them behind.

My realizations about the US education system and culture came as I was trying to get course approved for tanner credit for a class I wanted to register for at the Universidad de Sevilla. In my communication with OSU I was told I needed to translate all of the syllabi for the different classes I was interested in. In the end I had to translate a total of 10 syllabi to email back to OSU. A bit later I received a response telling me that none of the classes would be accepted, in this response in which clear that they had not actually read the syllabi I had just spent 5 hour translating for them or they would have seen that each class was applicable to the literature credit I was trying to fill even though some of them were taught by the history department. On the other end of they process my teacher in Spain were very supportive and helpful when I came to this precess and see equally frustrated with the response from OSU.

I appreciate greatly the people I met while there, my teachers, friends, and host family were a major light from this abbreviated study abroad experience. I hope to be to maintain these friendships and relationships for a lifetime. I was fortunate enough to be assigned a great host family, Monica and Jose, to whom I am grateful for their hospitality and love. I hope to be able to go back and visit them when I have to opportunity. I was also able to get to know people form all over Europe including Portugal, England, Ireland, France and many other places.

The city of Sevilla will forever hold a specially place in my heart because I feel like it was finely in this city that I felt at home; in that place, among its people, and in myself. I felt like I had finally figured out who I am and how to express myself fully. The person who I was before I want o Spain and after my return are the same, but I fell more at home with myself.  This was inspired by the people I met and by the culture of the Sevilla. I will take this comfort in my self forward with my in my professional, educational, and personal life.

 (great time getting to know the different parts of the city)

Aix En Provence Semester Abroad

For my STEP project I studied abroad in Aix-En-Provence, France for a semester. This was possible through one of the Office of International Affairs programs. While in France, my goal was to take courses, learn about other cultures, and hear stories told from different perspectives. I set out with these intentions, with the hope that I would grow as a college student as well as as a person. 

From my extraordinary time abroad, I learned many things about myself and who I can truly be. Firstly, I learned that I have a great amount of perseverance. I came to college knowing that I wanted to do a study abroad experience for a semester but shortly after talking with different advisors, I worried that I would not be able to cover the financial burden. However, I was quite determined to push past this obstacle. I talked with many campus resources about funding for the semester as well as more affordable programs. Then, the steps to get to France were many. Obtaining a VISA (or at least a French VISA) is a lot harder than it would seem. There are numerous applications as well as a required drive/flight to one of their in-person application centers. Once I finally made it to France, I was very proud of myself for all the effort that I had put into making my dream come true.

I also learned how independent I can be. This trip forced me away from all the people I’ve ever known and pushed me away from my comfort zone. It was disarming at first, and of course many tears were involved. However, after navigating two humongous airports on my own (one without English signs), I truly realized what I was capable of and how strong of an individual I am. Knowing this about myself encouraged me to climb a mountain on my own. It’s an all-day hike but the view is worth all the sweat and tears. I learned how to get around in a foreign country on my own and gained self confidence I never could have previously imagined. 

That’s not to say that I didn’t make numerous friends during my time abroad, some of whom I’m even hoping to visit in the fall. I was surprised at how easily I was able to make friends. In the past I have struggled to open myself up to strangers and often miss out on the friendship making moments. I knew that I was taking this semester to grow myself so I pushed through all the uncomfortability and was the first to make moves towards friendship. I hope and predict that this success will encourage me to put myself out there more in the future.

One of the most surprising and life-changing things that occurred during my STEP project was my being forced to leave the country due to COVID-19. When COVID hit Italy, a neighboring country to France, we saw schools begin to panic and pull their students out of the program. Ohio State gave their students the option to stay or return and I decided to stay. Confinement began in France almost immediately after. It seemed as though all the things I loved about France were far off now but yet I still found myself enjoying my time there and growing as a person. My family came to respect my decisions as an adult and supported me as much as they could from abroad. Life had changed but it was still progressing. Then COVID began to hit the States harder and more restrictions were being placed on travel each day. The school I was studying at highly encouraged the students to leave or warned that they may risk being stranded in France. It was with a heavy heart that I decided to end my time in France. I rapidly booked flights home and quickly endured the arduous journey back. My return was greeted with two weeks of not leaving my basement and constant fear from my loved ones that they would catch a disease they didn’t even know I had (I did not and do not have the disease). As you can imagine, this was entirely heart-breaking but I realized that there was nothing else I could do and that I needed to look at my positives from my time in Aix.

I learned a lot about French culture while in Aix. From a simple cafe to elections, family dinners to public transport, city markets to outlooks on life, all of it was present by those living in Aix. The Aixois like to say that in their city, life slows down. It truly does. My time in Aix forced me to step back and enjoy all the little moments that I experience in my life. Walks to school became promenades, a good book became the perfect afternoon pastime, the passion that shopkeepers put into their wares, and absolutely the divinity of good bread. I have been able to take my enjoyment of these simple pleasures and find them in my life here as well. I expect and will work to continue doing this for the rest of my life. Pleasures bring happiness, so why not find them everywhere?