• Nicole O. •
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“I knew I wanted to do something with Spanish, but my study abroad experiences made it even more exciting for me, more alive and real.” —Nicole O.

Nicole is a Spanish and Global Studies major who traveled to Argentina twice during her career at the University of Minnesota, first with IES to La Plata, and later with ISEP to Buenos Aires. Through her experiences, Nicole was able to intern as an English teacher, study with Argentine professors and students, and live in both a host family and university housing.

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Because she traveled to Argentina twice, Nicole actually completed most of her major coursework abroad, instead of at the University. “I thought it would only make sense to study abroad to improve my Spanish,” she said. During her first experience in La Plata, Nicole lived with an Argentine host family, and she was able to intern as an English teacher at a local school. Both of those experiences helped her gain confidence and fluency when speaking in Spanish. Nicole also found that studying with native professors and students helped her to understand the culture, and deepened her interest in studying many different countries, both in and out of Latin America, which is the geographical focus of her Global Studies major.

Nicole recently graduated from the University, and has gained employment as a Spanish-English translator for a local high school. “I’m actually the only translator in our building that’s not a native-speaker, so it helped a lot that I had studied abroad,” she said. The experience was useful for her during interviews, and she found that time spent in Argentina gave her a new perspective on her career. “I was lucky, early on I knew I wanted to do something with Spanish, but my study abroad experiences made it even more exciting for me, more alive and real.”

Each of Nicole’s experiences in Argentina was unique, and had it’s own strengths. The program with IES emphasized language learning, and students had the option of taking courses with other international students, or with native students in the university. IES also offered the opportunity to do an internship. “It was nice to meet other people in the community and be able to work with them; see how my style fit with theirs, and kind of adapt to that as well.” The host family was another part of the IES program that Nicole felt was important. She liked that she could “talk about anything and everything” with her host mother, with whom she still keeps in contact.

The ISEP exchange program allowed Nicole to explore Buenos Aires, the capital city of the country. She studied along with Argentine students, which she saw as a challenge. “The coursework was difficult at the university; it wasn’t easy, but it was a lot of fun. My classmates were very welcoming and understanding, and so were the teachers.” She found living in the city to be more difficult in terms of integrating into the host culture. “It was more challenging because I didn’t have anything to rely on; I had to just put myself out there.” Overall, she felt the combination of her two experiences gave her a solid understanding of the language, culture, and people of Argentina.

Last modified on November 21, 2008