From a young age, my mother has always made it clear that I will be going to college. It was never an option, and there were no ifs, ands, or buts about it. She believes that there is a certain order to life, and that’s the way the majority of people live. First you are a child, then comes school, college, a career, marriage, children, and a life of your own. Who was I to question her? What more could I know?
When it came time to search for colleges, my mom wrote an “Important Questions to Ask” list. On it were questions about academic programs, financial aid, housing, and healthcare. My dad and I only had one question: “How’s the food?” There was one question, however, that my mom never failed to find the answer to. She always asked about study abroad. For her, going away to college equates and most definitely requires studying abroad for a semester. It’s something she always dreamt of but never had the opportunity to do.
It’s now my junior year of college, and she is more nervous than ever that I won’t have enough time to study abroad and “do college right.” But for me, college has never been what you are supposed to do but rather what I make of it. I study Sociology and Criminology because it’s what I enjoy learning. I am president of LIVE because I am proud of my culture. I started a multicultural sorority, and I sit on the Human Relations Council of Valparaiso because I’m passionate about diversity, inclusion, and human rights. I am choosing to study abroad because I believe immersion into other cultures is the best way to learn about people different from myself.
As a 2016 CAPS Fellow I have spent a lot of time reflecting on what I think my calling and purpose in life are. I completed a summer internship with NPH USA, a nonprofit organization that provides housing, healthcare, and education to abandoned, abused, or otherwise at risk children in nine countries across Latin America and the Caribbean. There I learned that tragedy, poverty, and hopelessness come in many forms. There isn’t an umbrella large enough to cover the variety of the stories I have heard. Through my work, I was able to understand a little more of what I am called to do. I am called to ward off pain, burden, agony, and despair. I am called to give hope to the hopeless and a voice to the voiceless. I am called to provide what is missing. I am called to bring resolution and peace.
As I round out my last few semesters on campus, I look to strengthen my call and to understand where it is taking me. I am choosing to study abroad because I seek not only to better my Spanish language skills, not only to learn about a history and a culture so directly linked to my own, not only to learn how other parts of the world serve their people but also, to find myself all over again in a new place. I am choosing to study aboard to learn about the systemic nature of another country, to figure out why some people are disadvantaged, oppressed, neglected and forgotten, why some are not, and how I can work to fill in the gaps. By learning about another country and culture, I will learn a lot about my own.
I am choosing Spain because it’s part of where my people are from. As a Puerto Rican woman, I am a mix of Spanish, African and Taino (native) blood. I am a mix of many cultures that have grown and evolved to become one. Spain is a place where I believe that I will fit in enough to stand out. I am just different enough to feel uncomfortable and to gain real value from my experiences but just similar enough to be independent. In Barcelona, I will only enhance my education in the way that my mother envisioned me doing. I know that similarly to what I have done with college, it will become what I make of it and from it I will learn more about myself and what I’m called to do.
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