Admissions Counselor Maria Echevarria: A View of World Learning

This past March I had an incredible opportunity to go Chile and visit SIT’s Study Abroad program “Culture, Development and Social Justice” based in the eclectic port city of Valparaiso.  As a staff member who does not travel internationally for my job, I was eligible to apply for a ‘Staff Scholarship’ to visit one of SIT’s Study Abroad or Experiment in International Living high school study abroad programs.   Last May I threw my hat in the ring, and was the lucky winner!  After considerable deliberation – after all there are so many amazing places and enticing programs to choose from – I decided to go to Chile, both because I have always been intrigued by this country and because I have a particular interest in Latin America due to my Argentinian roots.  The ‘scholarship’ provides for transportation costs to the country and includes a 5-day home-stay with a family.

Admissions Counselor Maria Echevarria: A View of World Learning, continued

I was of course excited about the trip, but the actual experience exceeded my very high expectations!  I had been in brief contact with the two Academic Directors for the Valparaiso program, Mark Sinclair and Rossana Testa prior to my arrival.  To say that the local program staff were welcoming would be an egregious understatement.  Despite the fact that they were in high gear with 26 freshly-arrived undergraduates from US colleges, Mark and Juan Carlos Ulloa, aka ‘Danko’ picked me and my dad (who came with me from Argentina) up at the train station, gave us a comprehensive guided tour of the city, and then deposited my dad at his B&B before taking me to my home-stay family.  By the time we arrived at the home of Patricia and Antonio Vergara (my incredibly hospitable home-stay parents) it was already very nearly 10 pm – on a Saturday.  Nonetheless, they stayed for a cup of tea while my home-stay family and I became acquainted. 

Sunday was a rest day, and Patricia took me and my dad around the picturesque ‘cerros’ which make Valparaiso so unique, earning it the distinction as an UNESCO World Heritage City.  One of my favorite moments of the day was meeting a Cuban residing in Valparaiso inside an old German church and chatting about US politics – in Chile.  It drove home just how small the world has become. 

Among the other interesting opportunities I was able to enjoy during my visit were a couple of lectures held at the prestigious ‘Universidad Santa Maria’ for SIT students and participating in a Spanish class at ‘Casa SIT” – the SIT study abroad office in Valparaiso where the ‘Culture, Development and Social Justice’ is housed and which the students use as home-base for the program.  The lectures about Chilean culture, society and politics helped me put a context on all I was experiencing and observing living with my home-stay family and strolling around the city.  The Spanish class I participated in was also classic ‘SIT style’ – students (many of whom already had an advanced level of Spanish) were to take what they had been learning in the classroom and apply it.  Groups of students led by one of the Spanish teachers went to different parts of Valparaiso with ‘assignments’ to gather certain information.  In groups of 2 they dispersed to learn – for example – what the neighborhood plaza is famous for, when the artisan market takes place in a certain area, etc.  This forced them to interact with people (hopefully gaining confidence in their language and cultural skills), while learning more about the city that would be their home for the next several months, and then go back and present that learning with the other students – all of whom will have been on similar ‘assignments’ in other parts of the city.  It also gave me the opportunity to explore a new part of Valparaiso and chat with Pedro, the Spanish teacher of the group I joined, on a park bench while the students did their ‘research’.  Pedro, a native of Valparaiso and local activist, taught me much about the city and some of the challenges it faces. 

Every aspect of the trip was special, enjoyable, interesting and educational however I was most impressed by how wonderful and powerful it was for me to connect with my distant colleagues in Valparaiso.  Not only were they amazing people, dedicated to the program, generous with their time, and fascinating to talk to, but I was amazed to see what a strong bond there was from the onset because of our connection to SIT and it’s parent organization, World Learning.  While I have the luxury of reading amazing applications of those interested in coming to the SIT Graduate Institute, and have frequent contact with current students and even our wonderful alum working worldwide, this experience served as a great reminder and made much more tangible to me what an incredible organization World Learning is and the kind of impact it has on those who are a part of it.  This trip made me eager to visit one of SIT’s Study abroad programs each year, but alas, it will be another 5 years before I can apply again for a staff scholarship!  If you are interested in getting a taste of SIT’s study abroad programs, read the entry entitled “SIT Study Abroad: International Programs for Graduate Credit this Summer”.

 

Maria Echevarria is an Admissions Counselor for the Program in Intercultural Service, Leadership and Management.

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