Hannah Rahimi (Spain 2009-10)

Upon returning from Spain I found myself apologizing to people who urged me to tell them how my year was and telling them that I really could not feasibly tell them how much the year meant to me, how much it changed me, how much I saw and did and learned, and if I tried it would no doubt be at the expense of any original sounding description. My constant thought was “Wow I sound like a hallmark card!” Everything that I thought to say to describe my year came out sounding remarkably trite. But what I have come to realize after a couple of months being back in California is that despite the hackneyed timbre of my statements about my study abroad experience what I am feeling is cliché for a reason: it is the tremendous growth of self that is achieved by many people before me who have stepped out of their comfortable cultures and lived in a foreign country for a substantial length of time. But what is even more important is that I have realized that though the words I use to describe these feelings can sound faded and over-used, the feelings themselves are indeed original and novel because they are mine alone, they are not transferable through speech, through reading, or even through pictures, but only can be gained through personal experience.

Due to this abundance of people before me saying how their lives changed from studying abroad I left the country with a myriad of expectations about how I would find the year. I thought it would change my perception of the world, of myself, and of life itself. And it did. What I did not and could not expect, however, was the way in which these perceptions would change and the gravity of those changes that took place. I went to Spain to study literature and learn about the country in which the very authors I studied lived and wrote and while I did truly learn about the country in a depth which I never could have expected in the classroom I also learned how I can take that understanding and apply it to almost everything I learn. History is not just facts, it is the story of how we got where we are today and that story means everything to who we are and how we perceive the world and it is different for each person and each place. I left with the idea that despite cultural differences every person is more or less the same across the world. Instead I found that while we do all have many things in common there are fundamental differences between people such as values and lifestyles that change from place to place. From this I was able to see that it is really important to try to appreciate these differences and learn more about them rather than try to put everyone under a generalization. One of the most important things that happened was that I left with ten years of learning Spanish under my belt and I expected to be able to jump into fluency right away but instead found that the language I was able to read and write and use to converse in a scholastic situation was not anything close to the language I needed to interact on a day to day basis and I really did not feel fully comfortable with my Spanish until after having lived in Granada more than eight months. When before I would have to think through my words and stare intently in concentration to understand the Spanish around me now I open my mouth and without thinking can hold an easily flowing conversation without extra exertion.

After the first semester I felt as though I knew the city and I knew the culture and although I was looking forward to staying a semester longer I thought that it would not be all that bad to be going home then to return to my family and the comforts I had at home but what I did not realize was that although I had a comprehensive understanding of Granada from a traveler’s point of view I had no idea what it meant to truly live there. By the end of the year I did not just feel like I understood the culture and the city and the people there, I felt like I was a part of it. The cobbled stones that had charmed me at the beginning became the streets that I proudly walked with a sense of ownership and belonging, the once intriguing sights and smells of Granada were now signs of home and comfort.

When in Spain I found that the things I missed the most about America were the people and the food and the efficient lifestyle, now that I am back I find that I again miss the people and the food and this time the relaxed tranquil lifestyle. But now and forever I carry the possibility of both lifestyles with me and can choose how to live my own life somewhere in the middle of the two extremes, with frequent emails to the people I miss and attempts to cook the foods of both cultures in my own kitchen.

One of my favorite words in Spanish would have to be imprescindible, essential. That is how I feel about this year abroad. It has been imprescindible to who I am now and who I want to be. I would fully recommend studying abroad to anyone who has the chance and I would stress that in order to really take the experience to heart a full year abroad, also, is imprescindible.

Alexandra Delaney (Denmark, 2009-10)

Everyone reacts positively when I relay the fact that I spent a year abroad, even before I tell them what I did or how it changed me. It is generally assumed that a year away from home, in a place where you have a non-existent support system, is a productive experience for a person and a young person especially. After personal reflection and many conversations I am able to officially agree that I had an amazing time, or at least encountered people and places that I could have never imagined before I left La Jolla.

​Originally, I anticipated a notably challenging academic experience; after all, I am paying tuition to learn something. What surprised me, however, was how much I learned about and from people instead of from my syllabus. Not to say that I wandered around Europe and never attended classes. My goal was to integrate seamlessly, to dress like a Danish person, communicate with them, to be like them, and a successful student life was part of that. In fact I was so successful that by the time I left that the other exchange students even jokingly called me Danish because of my intense need to avoid being noticeably American.

Most of my learning happened while I lived with Danish people, attended classes with them, cooked with them, and traveled with them; even while I attended evening courses to be able to understand them. In fact I fell in love and out of love with a Danish student.

​After coming back I realized that obviously, I will always be American, or more specifically, Californian, and it was silly to think I could be anything else. However, my intense need to understand as an outsider provided me with a unique perspective on people that I had never had before.

​I studied evolutionary biology, anthropology, history, traveled to some of the most beautiful tourist destinations imaginable — if you ever get a chance to trek around Iceland then definitely take the opportunity and the time— but the most unique and special things I learned and witnessed were while real life was happening.

​When I was adjusting to a new city I saw how all of my floor-mates went out of their way to arrange transportation and explain their world to me. When my mother died I felt the support and kindness while I was trying to explain how my world had fallen apart. I met a new person and learned something new about life every day. I keep in contact with some directly, and the others still silently affect me below the surface, because they changed my attitudes and perspectives in an entirely surprising way.

​I will never forget the things I saw and did or stop being grateful for the opportunity to live for a year, to reinvent myself, and to come one step closer to being a better person.

Kipp Trieu (France, 2008-09)

I had to ask what ‘911’ was in France.  Not that I was in a burning building or anything, I was writing an emergency protocol for a Sciences Po summer program.

The French person who I asked knew immediately what 911 itself meant; I asked how.  “You see that in every American movie, of course.”  Bien sûr.

After spending time abroad I’ve come to the realization that immense as the United States might be (in political and cultural impact - my final exam prompt for “World Space” at Sciences Po was on American “soft power” in the public sphere… in other words from that class, ‘cultural imperialism’), we can’t afford to continually seek solace behind our Freedom Fries, especially in this age of internationalization.  We can’t afford to not know of and understand the world and peoples beyond our borders, for doing so gives us singular learning opportunities.  Having these experiences allows us to not only exposure to other peoples and their essences, their customs, culture, etc., but it also allows us to reflect upon ourselves and learn about our own mores and ways of “doing things.”  Indeed this pedagogy of “l’autrui” (a French word loosely translated to “those around us”) is valuable not only for people living and working internationally, but even more essential for primary and secondary education, I argue, and that “proper” education abroad experiences are particularly important for creating effective, aware world citizens.

During my studies and travels, I found that quite a few people speak English.  So why bother learning anything else?  This notion “translates” to lack of second language (and culture) education in primary schools, weak programs for languages & literatures other than English at university level.  UC San Diego’s French Literature department for example recently took a deep cut in funding, hence the department offers only a limited selection of courses.

But here enters a strange relationship between Guillaume le Conquérant and the GRE.  The former became the first Norman King of England in 1066, introducing French lexicon into the English language, the latter’s Verbal module tests on archaic English words, which often had French roots.  Indeed, learning French, a language of “l’autrui,” allowed me insights into my own language, and a (slight, but enough for grad school) boost on the GRE sans the use flash cards.  “Aggrandize?”  From the French “agrandir,” to make bigger.

More largely, learning about “l’autrui” can help us learn about ourselves.  The student abroad is engaged in a reflective process, forcing them to actively analyze home vs. host culture and to engage with host culture.  This process “makes sense” makes meaningful connections between one’s culture and the host culture, and gives the student a unique flexibility in understanding culture and the essence of people; this process is only available to students who study abroad.  Further, living with l’autrui can make one appreciate little things found at home like speedy lines at the post office or consolidated paperwork for going to the bathroom, while highlighting the nuances found in the host culture.  For example when one opens a bank account in France, a “conseiller,” the equivalent of a “personal banker” here, is assigned to your account, and this conseiller only will manage your account, whereas at banks here any personal banker will help with accounts.  This often causes time-consuming bureaucratic red tape (as I discovered) but it reveals the very human dimension of French culture, where a ‘no’ can in fact mean a ‘yes’ after a good amount of plying.

The lessons learned from the pedagogy of l’autrui, among them mutual respect and understanding, are important even for the primary school age, where social lessons heavily include respect for others and “getting along” and “sharing.”  As a soon-to-be teacher, I am fortunate to have had these experiences of learning to be a world citizen, and hope to pass on this wisdom to my students.

I applaud the CBMSF, which for me has embodied these world citizen principles with which we must move forward to be successful as a society, for continuing to target yearlong applicants to EAP.  Though this might make me a “study abroad snob,” I argue that to attain a degree of immersion that truly begins to offer unique understanding of the host culture and move from a temporary visitor status; this additional time is needed for the proper engagement of the student with the host environment and the pedagogy of l’autrui.

My experiences from the Education Abroad Program and from being a part of the Chris Borton Memorial Scholarship Fund have impacted my views on effective teaching, intercultural teaching and equity of education.  Further, spending time abroad has allowed me to learn and reflect upon myself as a person and as a productive member of the “global village.”  My hope is to impart to my students what I have learned of being a world citizen.