Great Expections
I tried as hard as I could to start this experience without any expectations. I wanted to figure things out as I went and be open to new ideas that were not necessarily what I would expect. I am still trying to think that way and have found that I am constantly learning new things. However, now that I have been here a few weeks I do agree I should start to set goals for myself.
Academically:
I hope to improve my Spanish skills and be able to easily have a conversation with a native Spanish speaker. I would like for people to now know I am American by the way I speak.
I hope to gain a new perspective that will help me in my studies and in my future as well. I would like to see how people in a different culture view environmental problems. I think that they will have a very different point of view than we do because their economy and their way of life are different from ours. Since I want to help solve environmental problems and also help people in the future, I feel it is important to know what people need before I can really do this. Americans so often think that they can impose their way of life on other countries, when in reality what works for us is not always beneficial for others.
Since my program has an internship portion, I feel that I will learn the most out of that. I hope to take as much as I can from this internship and gain valuable job experience in my field.
Personally:
I hope to establish a lasting relationship with my host family as well as make friends here.
I hope to become more confident, outgoing and adventurous. I am already trying things that I never would at home and plan to continue doing this. I feel that I need to work on confidence because I am hesitant to talk to people, especially with the language barrier.
Lastly, I hope to not only see but also adapt a different way of living and of viewing life. I think that going abroad is essential to personal development because it shows us that our way of thinking and living is not the only way or the right way. It is really important for me to learn and grow as a person by first understanding that I have so much to learn about the culture and the people here.