As I reflect back on my 4 years at Clemson University, I think about what events shaped me most as a person. I have been a member of numerous clubs and organizations, I have taken many cool trips and made lots of new friends, and I have seen 2 college football national championships. However, the experience that impacted me most was my semester abroad. In the spring of 2017, I studied in Cordoba, Argentina, at Universidad Blas Pascal. I was enrolled in a faculty directed Spanish immersion program that included a host stay, a pre-semester Spanish immersion month, an internship, and other amenities. The aspects of my study abroad experience that helped shape me into the person I am today were the language, the trips, my internship, and my host mother. 

         One of the most important things I realized immediately when I arrived in Cordoba was that I had been taking language for granted my whole life. I have never had a problem communicating with other people or expressing what I am thinking or feeling. It is hard to explain to people that have never been to a Spanish speaking country the awkwardness of everyday interactions when you don’t understand the language. The moment when I was exiting the airport and saw my host mother, Estela, waiting to pick me up outside, I realized that I was in no way prepared for this experience. Communication was hard for me, especially in the beginning. My host mother spoke no English and our classes were entirely in Spanish. I was fortunate enough that the entire first month of the program was an intensive Spanish month, where we were at the university every day from 9am-5pm practicing Spanish and taking cultural trips on the weekend. I always stayed after class to practice verb conjugations, because I was so much farther behind than my classmates. Over time and through practice I became better and got to be better friends with my host mother.

My goals for learning changed throughout the course of the program. Before I left for Argentina, I had one goal: learn Spanish. I learned Spanish very quickly, due to the difficulty of the intensive month and the fact that my host mother did not speak English. After only a couple weeks, I was proficient enough to where I could understand my professors and I could complete everyday tasks. However, I learned that I lacked the level of Spanish to really form close relationships and to use humor, and that is what I began to practice the rest of the semester. I wanted to learn how to use language as a means to make relationships, instead of treating language as a transactional means. The Cordoba program forced me to learn Spanish, but my understanding of language as a whole improved from the experience. 

         Another aspect of my experience that impacted me heavily was my internship. I interned for a company called CIIECCA, which stands for The Chamber of Electronic, Information, and Communication Industries of Central Argentina. This company supported the small tech companies in central Argentina. This internship was especially impactful for me because of the cultural differences I observed, the memorable experiences and jobs I conducted, and the leadership of my boss. In Argentina, the cultural differences are very apparent in a business environment. In general, Argentinians are more informal with each other in interpersonal communications, and this shows even in a work setting. In my office, the boss and the employees treated each other like family and spent time with each other frequently outside of work. For example, my boss, Pablo Bozzanno, became my friend and he took me out to dinner multiple times to get to know me. He also drove me to work most mornings and I got to know a lot about his life and work. Even though our interactions within our office was more formal than an office in the US, our communications with other businesses were similar to that of the US. Business to business communication was very formal. For example, I helped organize an international business roundtable meeting between Chilean and Argentinian manufacturers, which ended up being one of the most memorable experiences of my internship. We organized an event where agricultural exporters from Chile could meet with packagers and manufacturers from Argentina in a formal setting. This helped form new business relationships between both countries and I gained a lot of new connections. Another job I was tasked with was to conduct research and find new markets in which to sell the products of the business we represented. This involved calling foreign embassies and researching which products they imported that aligned with our associates’ products. As a result of my work my Spanish improved a lot, and I learned new technical Spanish words to add to my vocabulary. I also became comfortable with doing business in another country and in a foreign language. I spent a lot of time on the phone with business people speaking Spanish and I had a lot of interactions with foreign representatives during the international business roundtable meeting. My internship is something I will never forget, and I value the friendship I made with my boss. 

         While I was in Argentina, I had the opportunity to travel through most of the country. I took trips to Buenos Aires to see Messi and the national team defeat Chile to advance to the World Cup. I snowboarded at the highest altitude ski resort in the world and hiked mountains in Patagonia. Even though I took these amazing trips I will never forgot, the most meaningful part of my experience was living with my host mother, Estela. She looked after me and became one of my good friends. We enjoyed eating together and watching soap operas on week nights, and my Spanish improved quickly as a result of spending time with her. I lived with Estela for almost half a year, and during that time we had a lot of other exchange students from different programs and countries. As my Spanish became better, I had to act as a translator between Estela and our other house mates. I was also exposed to a lot of Argentina culture and I learned a lot about family life while living with her. Argentina and other Latin American cultures put a heavy emphasis on family, and she accepted me into hers. One of my favorite cultural traditions that I was exposed to was “Asado”, which is the Argentina version of a US barbeque. Every Sunday afternoon, she would invite all of her children to her house to cook an asado which would consist of every type of beef, pork, and chicken. Even though her children had all moved out, the typical Argentinian youth lives with their parents longer than the normal American. All of the college students I studied with at Blas Pascal still lived with their parents and usually stay in the home for a while even after graduation. Another big difference is the time that they eat their meals. Lunch is usually later in the day, and they never eat dinner before 10pm. The one thing I will never forget was when she dropped me off at the bus station for my return home to the US and she started crying and she told me that I was her favorite student she had ever hosted in her home. I’m glad I was able to experience Argentinian culture while living with Estela and we still try to keep in touch to this day. 

         My internship, my host stay, and my knowledge of the Spanish language that came as a result of my study abroad experience enriched my overall academic experience at Clemson. My experience comes up in conversation in almost every job interview and I know that the things I learned in Argentina will benefit me in my future career. The challenges I overcame taught me lots of things about myself and gave me newfound confidence to stray further outside my comfort zone. I know the things I learned with stay with me for the rest of my life and I hope to one day return to Argentina.