Everyone decides to study abroad for different reasons.
My first big travel opportunity was through the Girl Scouts. My sister’s troop was taking a trip to Tanzania to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and both of my parents were going so I went too. I was nine years old, and the experience completely changed my world. From then on, I was lost to wanderlust. As soon as I was old enough, I joined my sister’s high adventure Girl Scout troop and with them was able to travel to Costa Rica, New Zealand, and Peru. These experiences with Girl Scouts showed me how big and beautiful the world is; they taught me how to plan and fundraise for international trips. They taught me to take every opportunity to experience the world.
When I arrived at UMW, I knew I would study abroad. Maybe, I thought, I could convince my parents to let me do it twice! I wanted to do a semester abroad, to really get the chance to know a place deeply. I also wanted to go to a Spanish speaking country because I think that the best way to learn a language is to speak it and practice it every day. With those criteria in mind, I headed to the UMW study abroad fair, where I talked to every representative. Then I remembered my criteria and ended up chatting for a long while with the representative from SOL Education Abroad, which offers programs of different lengths in Spain, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Argentina. I had never been to Argentina, and I knew very little about it, so that, I decided, was where I would go.
I spent the spring semester of 2018 in Buenos Aires trying to absorb as much of the language and culture as I possibly could. I took a month long intensive Spanish language course and then did a regular 15 week, five course semester. All the classes I took were in Spanish and counted toward my Spanish minor here at UMW. But I’ll be honest, I didn’t want to study abroad just to go to class. The best part, by far, was experiencing the culture. I explored Patagonia, one of the most beautiful places on earth. I visited the astounding Iguazu falls. I drank mate with locals at Mate Club, where I practiced my Spanish and they practiced their English. My program took me and my fellow students on many cultural activities including visiting a traditional Gaucho ranch, the beach city of Mar del Plata, UNESCO World Heritage Site Colonia, Uruguay, as well as trips to museums and interest points around the city. They even found volunteer activities for us to engage in. In the USA, there are many practical applications for Spanish, and I don’t think I could have achieved this level of fluency without studying abroad.
After I graduate from UMW, I hope to join the Peace Corps. My study abroad experiences have helped prepare me to live far from home, in a culture that is not my own, speaking a language that is new to me, and volunteering my time and my skills to those who need them. After the Peace Corps, I would like to be a travel writer or work as an educator in a museum.
Krista Beucler, UMW Class of 2020