Study Abroad Stories: Caitlin Around the World
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Today, Caitlin from The Country Jumper shares her experience studying abroad three different times in three different countries. Keep reading for her story and to see what she gained from this experience!
My name is Caitlin. I’m originally from Vermont but went to Goucher College in Towson, Maryland. I did a major in business management and a minor in religious studies. When I tell people I studied business they always react positively, saying how useful it must be. And I guess that’s true, but I also really haven’t worked in either of the fields I studied. I’ve worked as an ESL teacher for a number of years, an events coordinator here and there, and of course a freelance writer and travel blogger. My blog, The Country Jumper, is focused on budget-ish independent travel way, way off the beaten trail with an emphasis on ethical animal encounters, specifically horseback riding.
When I graduated college in 2011 being abroad was already very much a part of my story. I’d done three study abroad programs. My college actually required it for graduation, but not three, that was just me really wanting to be anywhere but here.
Three Week Intensive Spanish in Cuernavaca, Mexico
My first program was in Cuernavaca, Mexico. I went there over our extended winter break (my college had an especially long one to accommodate programs like this one) my sophomore year. I was there with a bunch of students from my school and we all studied together at a Spanish school in Cuernavaca. I remember the school, it was so Mexican. Open air classrooms, a courtyard that connected them all. Salsa classes. So Mexican. I think one of my teacher’s names was Maria and she used to call us her babies. She was adorable.
Theoretically, I was there to learn Spanish, theoretically, I left there fluent in Spanish. I would find out later in life, when I began dating a Spaniard, that this statement was far from the truth. But I spent three weeks there in Cuernavaca, I drank a whole bunch of tequila – usually as part of a margarita, though not always, I ate loads of avocado – actually I think it’s where I learned how delicious avocado is, I danced on tables a few times, and in theory, I learned Spanish.
Semester in Limerick, Ireland
So that was 2009, the next year I left for Ireland. I went through IFSA-Butler, a study abroad provider I’d highly recommend, to UL, The University of Limerick, out on the west coast of the island.
My room, a beautiful little dorm room with an en-suite, looked out towards the Shannon River. I loved that campus, it had such an incredible student life that I hadn’t experienced in the US. I immediately had a group of Irish friends who took me and some other Americans under their wings. They took us out every night and one of the girls, Evelyn, eventually invited us to spend time at her home. We hung out with her mom and dad and dog and went drinking at her local pub.
There was horseback riding as part of the school’s offerings, something that’s always been a part of my life, but my study abroad organizer had told me foreign students couldn’t take the classes. During my first days in Limerick, I asked everyone if I could take the class until someone told me yes, so once a week I got on a bus and went horseback riding for credits.
Semester in Meknes, Morocco
Finally, as my very final semester of college, and to complete the requirements of my minor, I went to Morocco.
I was so excited for this. I’d had a bit of a circuitous route through college and had only found the religious studies late in my four years so I really wanted to finish it and Morocco was the answer to that. I also knew I didn’t want to go back to Europe, I wanted to go somewhere more exciting, more different.
This time I studied through ISA and went to Meknes. It’s quite difficult for me to go into too much depth on my Morocco experience without writing a few thousand more words, but let me just say this: it was not a good one. I dragged my semester in Ireland out as long as I could and was there for about six months start to finish. I shortened Morocco as much as I was allowed to, I took a second week of break time with another girl because the thought of going back was too much for us. It was a very hard four months.
How Study Abroad Changed Me
I can’t imagine that I would be who I am today had I not spent this time abroad throughout the formative years that are college. I’ve lived abroad more or less continuously since Morocco. I think my study abroad experiences taught me how to live abroad. Actually, I think it taught me how to live. There is nothing like getting on a plane alone to go meet a bunch of strangers in a foreign country to teach you how to make friends. The people who I met in all three of these programs are still people I hold close and love dearly. And having people is such an important part of any life, but a travel or nomadic life most importantly.
And the freedom. College provides a lot of freedom. College in a foreign country, even more so. It’s overwhelming for a person at the ages of 18, 19, or 20 to have that kind of run around, do as you will, but still get your papers in on time, freedom. And it teaches you how to cope with it all. With the privilege and the burden that is freedom and the deadlines and the expectations and no one there to tell you that they’d better get done, and that’s what life is, no one’s there through life telling you to get your stuff done. You’ve gotta figure that out and still maintain the freedom.
Why You Should Study Abroad
If anybody ever asked me I’d tell them to go. Don’t think about anything beyond where you’re gonna go. I’m super anti-debt. I think people who take out car loans are foolish, I don’t have cell phone contracts or Spotify or Netflix, but if you need to take out a loan to study abroad, do it. Education is priceless. And organized education is one thing. But the education of being you in a different world, it’s incomparable.About the Author: Born in the United States, Caitlin has been living internationally since 2011. She is an ESL Teacher by trade and a writer by passion. When she is not pounding away at her travel blog, The Country Jumper, you can find Caitlin on the back of a horse, in a café sipping Chai, or at the bar enjoying a nice red.
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