Email:
kwaples@scu.edu Kelsey Waples '07Peer AdvisorReflections on my Study Abroad Experience While I am still reflecting on and processing the experience, and suspect I will be for many months to come, I can say with confidence that this has been one of the most transformative experiences of my life. This was my first time out of the country, except a few short trips to Mexico, and it opened my eyes to the way the majority of the world struggles to survive. I learned about an entirely different reality than the one I live in. I learned about how the majority of the world struggles to provide adequate food, education and medical attention for their children and just how large the institutions and systems that enforce this are. However, I also learned about how important my role in this struggle is. I learned more than I could have foreseen at the start about myself: my abilities, who I want to be in life, what I believe in. So, I guess you could say that this was not only a study abroad experience in an academic sense but also a spiritual and personal sense. This is what I would most like to communicate about studying abroad to others. After my experience, I feel very passionately about the benefits of becoming a person with a wider world-view and greater social consciousness. Whether one studies in the Paris or San Salvador, I believe that immersing oneself in another culture contributes to both these goals. |
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