Goals

I have quite a few goals that I want to share with everyone and maybe some of them are the same.

First off, I am a Spanish major and I am going to study abroad in Puerto Rico for my semester abroad. One of the biggest goals that I have is to become fully fluent in the Spanish language. I have always said that I wanted to become fluent in Spanish before I graduated college. Therefore, I will be fulfilling a life goal and a study abroad goal with that.

Another goal that I would like to achieve is to do well in all of my classes. Since I will be studying in a different language, I know that my classes will be tough for a little while until I get fully comfortable with speaking in another language all the time. This is definitely my biggest goal.

I want to be a great student while I am there, but I also want to be a tourist. I want to see all that I am able while I am there. Whether that be the capital city, mountains, beaches, etc. One thing that I think would be really cool while I am there is to go to another country in the Caribbean.

I think that another big goal of mine would to become fully immersed into the Puerto Rican culture. This might be a tough goal at first because it will be different than what I am used to being in. I want to try a lot of new things while I am there such as foods, friends, families, and pretty much just do whatever they do on a daily basis. I think this will be a very cool experience and I am very excited to go to Puerto Rico for the fall semester.

GOALS BAYBAY!!

Italy Aspirations!!!

 

             Woah nelly, do I have a million plans. To outline the big picture, my study abroad experience will finalize my degree. Since my return home means "Hello giant, scary world that expects me to be an independent adult with insurance and an understanding of taxes!", I am going to milk this international experience for all it's worth. Oh...the food, the people (Italian boys *wink*) , and don't get me started on the incredible art history!

If we're talking feelings, I'm torn between being embarrassed for needing an extra semester to finish while all of my friends are preparing for grad school and feeling pretentious at the fact that I'm essentially complaining when I've been given the opportunity to see the world!

 

- I plan to make some connections in the art field by presenting my portfolio to galleries, freelance artists, and to potential employers. The ultimate achievement would be to get one of my own pieces into an Italian Modern Art gallery or get commissioned for work! (My resume just weeps thinking about it.)

- Hearing peers gush about their traveling experiences beyond their host institution has convinced me that I have to take advantage of the cheap travel fare within Europe and experience other countries during weekends/breaks.

- I will say yes to more and be involved and learn to adapt in situations outside my comfort zone (cliché, but true) for the pursuit of adventure!! (Ex: Italian clubbing, putting my art out there to big-name galleries, etc. = sounds terrifying and has potential to be dang embarrassing, but I won't nock it 'til I try it!)

- Who doesn't want to make meaningful relationships while abroad? I want to learn and bond with people from all walks of life!

- I'd love to gain a better grasp on independent living and not crack under pressure.

- Before I leave: make bad-to-the-bone art for my portfolio.

  While I'm there: make, visit, and exchange bad-to-the-bone art.

  When I leave: know some bad-to-the-bone artists, and understand the career field better.

 

I feel like even the most bold, devil-may-care people have to suppress intimidation in foreign territory. (Figuratively and literally speaking.) I was recently made aware by a student, who recently studied at the same University I applied to, that Milan life is similar to New York City. I don't know why it came as such a shock to me, because I've always known it as a metropolis and one of the chief fashion capitals of the world. However, the Italy that I've studied for years in the arts has been classic villas, rolling hills with vineyards, and intricate cathedrals with even more intricate murals. Either way, I am beyond giddy to experience both, but I realized how much we glorify places and people. I just don't want to over-romanticize the experience and be disappointed with unrealistic expectations. I don't know what to expect and need to realize that it's up to me to make it fun. Sheesh, I overthink everything. I hope this is going well. I wasn't sure how formal we had to be in these, but I'm going full blown diary.

 

Worries: woah nelly again, do I have a million. I worry about finances (abroad or not), making meaningful friendships, navigating, and balancing school with fun. I think the trick to avoid these becoming a reality is to not worry and speak positivity into existence with hard work and enthusiasm. Cheesey.... I know, but I'm banking on that working. 





  
Argentina: A New Global Opportunity
 Overall, there are many reasons why I would be excited to accept the opportunity to study abroad in Argentina over this Summer. The first main reason for this excitement has to do with the fact of my hopes to receive a Spanish double major. Over my past high school career and my present career in college, I have always pushed towards the hope of being able to receive a major in Spanish in addition to my intended major in history. Despite this excitement, there has always been one main issue that has come up in the hopes of pursuing this goal. This obstacle has always been that it has seemed arduous or even impossible to fit in the necessary classes in the hopes of pursuing this major. For this reason, the opportunity for a Summer Study abroad in regards to Spanish has always interested me, as this would give me the opportunity to be able to pursue my double major by being able to specifically focus in on courses that would further the reaching of this goal.

     I would be lying if I exclusively said that the only reason I am pursuing this study abroad opportunity is to receive my major double major in Spanish. In fact, there is a much larger overarching goal that I have in pursuing this study abroad opportunity. This larger goal is to fully immerse myself in the Spanish language and culture that I have learned about throughout high school and college. Through my advanced level in Spanish, my classes that I hope to take over the Summer, and because of the fact that I will be studying in Buenos Aires, one of the main Spanish cultural centers in the South American world, I believe that this experience will help me gain invaluable knowledge on the subjects of Spanish that I will continue to study in college. Through this experience, I also believe that this will give me extremely practical experience in dealing with the U.S. society in the future, as through the expanding Latino/Latina community in the United States, I believe that this study abroad will help me build a stronger cultural understanding of the United States as a whole.      

     Despite this excitement, though, I still hold significant concerns about this trip. The main reason that I am slightly fearful about this study abroad is because of the fact that I have never flown outside of the country on my own before. Although I have travelled out of the country multiple times with family or friends, the idea of travelling alone outside of the U.S.A has always made me fearful, as the idea of being stuck in a foreign country with little understanding of how to deal with that culture or the people who make that culture has always brought on deep concern. Over the past year, this concern has further deepened, as through the continued deviation of U.S. policies from the opinions of other countries around the world, I fear that this will make it all the more difficult in being able to fit into this foreign culture.
     Through this stark contrast, though, I believe that this will allow me to complete many interactions and activities that will allow me to further my goals. Some of these main goals include:
1. Being able to carry on a conservation about complicated issues between myself and citizens of the country I intend to travel to.   
                                                                                                     
I'm going to admit, I'm not the most caught up person in U.S. or world politics. Despite this fact, though, I believe that because of my moderate knowledge of world events in addition to my advanced level of Spanish, I believe that I will be able to carry on slight conversation with locals about general political events in the United States and what their views on these subjects are. Through this, I believe that this will allow me to get a greater understanding about what the view of the U.S. as a whole is for many foreign individuals, and I believe that through, these conversations, I will be able to create a better image of the United States if a positive image was not already evident.


2.Being able to see the effects of global culture in the South American world and being able to see how these countries have developed individual cultures despite the present situation. https://cdn4.goabroad.com/images/a/top/3c50b0f4b6cf60ac8b1c5ed39f78aa3a9f26f49e-2014.jpg

Through the past hundreds of years, countries in regions such as South America have constantly been exposed to outside cultures, whether it be from Spanish Colonists in the 15th and 16th centuries or with the striking expansion of globalization brought on by technological advancement in the past decade. Through this study abroad, I believe that I will be able to gain a greater global awareness of how imperialism and technological change has vastly affected the world outside the United States, and I believe that this will allow me to have a more balanced global perspective.                                  http://www.bridgeargentina.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Puerto-Madero-slide.jpg

3. Being able to experience the local Argentinean cuisine.

 Over the past couple of years, one of my favorite hobbies has always been cooking and experiencing new cuisines. Although I realize that on this study abroad trip I will most likely be unable to fully get involved in the cooking process in Argentina, I believe that this trip will allow me to fully experience the complex culinary culture of a country which I have heard much about but have never fully experienced for myself.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Asado_2005.jpg

Blog #1: Goals

               There are really two reasons that I’m studying abroad. The first is that I’ve lived in the Knoxville area my entire life, and I haven’t really gotten many chances to travel before. I was dying to go somewhere, and I realized that studying abroad would be the easiest and most rewarding way for me to travel while I’m still in school. From there, I built up my academic plans to fit the resources I would have available at my study abroad site. Originally, those were resources on refugees and climate change in Jordan, but now that a travel warning has been issued for there, and I don’t know where I’ll be going, I can’t say exactly what I’ll be studying. Ideally, it will be a combination of sustainability issues and social issues, culminating in research that will be environmental justice-oriented. If I get into one of the schools I applied to in the Netherlands, I might have the opportunity to incorporate gender into my research, which would go well with my new Gender and Women’s Studies minor, which would be even more exciting.

                I’m nervous to be traveling alone for the first time, but I’m a compulsive planner, so I’m pretty sure I won’t end up, you know, going to the wrong continent or anything. For the most part I’m just really excited, and right now I’m excited-nervous to see where I’ll be placed. But no matter where I end up (all schools are in Northern Europe), I plan to travel while I’m there. There’s no way that I’m going to be in Europe without going to Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, England (Hogwarts), and I’d love to spend at least a little while in France. I also hope to make friends with people who live in my host country, as well as my fellow exchange students, because I feel like it would be the best way to familiarize myself with the culture, and it’s always nice to have a travel buddy. Lastly, I am going to try to find a faculty member or two that I feel could really help me with my senior thesis topic because having that academic input would be invaluable.

Goals

There are so many goals that I think studying abroad is going to help me accomplish. Learning a new language, experiencing a new culture, living away from my family, and seeing my field from a new perspective are just a few of them. But one of the most important and potentially the most difficult goal that I hope to achieve is to learn to relinquish control and step out of my comfort zone enthusiastically and confidently. I do not like the feeling of not having a plan, whether it is school work or vacation that I am facing. And I know that living abroad by myself will be an experience full of uncomfortable situations in which I have no plan. However, this is just as exciting as it is terrifying, and I know that with some practice I will be able to improve my ability to be spontaneous and deal with problems as they come. Apart from being a great skill to have in every day life, I think the ability to creatively solve problems as they arise is essential to my (hopefully) future career as a physician. You cannot possibly prepare for every patient or every situation.

So this fall, while I am learning incredible things and seeing incredible sights, I hope that I also push myself to improvise, jump outside my comfort zone, and figure out how to deal with life when things don't go as planned.

Blog 1: Study Abroad Goals

Studying Abroad could be one of my greatest accomplishments, and will be some much better than just traveling to Japan (or at least that’s what I keep telling myself). I think the chance to study abroad will give me a lot more time and opportunities. My one real goal for studying abroad is to survive my time there and learn as much as I can. While most of my goals seem to be purely academic (and boring), there are many small things I also want to accomplish while I am there.

Major Goals

• Language: I want to greatly improve my Japanese language skills which are currently not up to par. Because, if I’m being honest, I should readily admit that getting through my classes was a small struggle. While I really enjoy the learning the language, I know that I still have a long way to go.

o   I want to be able to understand the natural speed of native Japanese-speakers

o   Know a majority of the Kanji so I won’t be completely lost

o   Possibly work towards the level required of a language translator

• Culture: I want to learn more about the society as a whole.

• Economics: While in Japan, I want to learn more about the Japanese viewpoint and economic practices in order to obtain more information that would benefit my work towards a master’s degree in economics.

• Professional: I want to learn skills that would help with a future job.

Minor Goals

• Exploring: There are many things I want to do while in Japan.

o   Visit all of the major cities and temples

o   Go to any national parks or museums that I think would be interesting

• Random:

o   Buy souvenirs for all of my friends, family, coworkers, etc.

o   Try lots of different foods

o   Join a club/ play an intramural sport

o   Drink tons of coffee

o   Make a few good friends

Blog 1-Goals Aryne Feldman

My main goals of studying abroad are to get a new cultural experience.  I have been to several countries before but I have never personally been to Italy.  I hope to learn the different social norms, try new foods, and meet many people.  I will be hopefully studying business over there, and I also want to see the differences between our economy here verses there.  Even though I have studied before, I am very nervous about going.  I have bought my ticket and have gone alone; however that was for a week and I knew people there.  I am going to a place where I do not know anyone and that makes me nervous.  I also have a fear of the language barrier.  I only know a tiny bit of French, and a little bit of Spanish, which I know probably will not help me out that much.  Three things that I want to do are make a traveling video/blog if you say, meet a lifelong friend, and go to as many landmarks as possible.  The video I want to do, which I enjoy making through Splice (an app for GoPro) every time I travel, would be of all the landmarks I go to, the people I meet, and a variety of things.  I want to make one friend that I will stay in touch with and hopefully see again, and as for the landmarks, there is so much to see in Rome, and I want to make sure I get to see as much as possible.

 Sources:
 https://www.google.com/search?q=rome&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjq6qfplJPSAhVFYyYKHXsdC_4Q_AUICSgC&biw=1280&bih=867#imgrc=T-JggMKwn7pzaM:

Climbing the wall to México: Goals for Study Abroad

Goals for studying abroad in Puebla, México:

• Eat:

• Mexican food is heaven on earth and I plan to be on cloud nine for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for four months
• If I have a homestay, help cook dinner and learn about the culture of food in Mexico
• Discover the regional foods specific to the area I'm studying in
• Go to local festivals and volunteer in the community. Mexico is ranked the happiest country in the world and I want to know why (besides the food).
• Learn:
• Find every possible pin related to Mexico on pinterest and add it to my Puebla board
• Get experience with traveling abroad, buying international plane tickets, applying for a student visa
• Take classes that contribute to my major and expand my understanding of Mexican education 
• Take classes related to Mexican politics and social structure
• Volunteer in the community and interact with as many locals as possible
• Speak:
• However unrealistic, I want to be as close to fluency in Spanish as possible when I come back
• Order enchiladas at El Jimador in Spanish and feel more than lista for living in a Spanish-speaking country
• Gain courage and experience with using another language with native speakers
• Take an academic class taught in Spanish and don't fail
• Bring my language skills back to the US and be able to share my experience with other Spanish speakers
• Dig deeper into the social and political relationships between Mexico and the US, Mexico and the world
• Be able to put bilingual on a resume
• Share:
• Be able to share with others why I feel like a study abroad experience is crucial for both my major and being global citizen 
• Convince my parents I'm not just studying abroad in Puebla, Mexico because I have a Mexican boyfriend
• Make friends internationally that I can keep for a lifetime
• Bring back a deeper understanding of latino culture (specifically in Mexico) and share it with other Americans who might have predetermined prejudices, fears or myths regarding Mexicans and latinos
• Encourage students, family and friends to travel and see the world by posting pictures and telling stories
• Stay calm and carry on:

• Culture shock is inevitable, but my goal is to be able to adapt to living in a new city and culture abroad and enjoy my time there to the fullest
• Budget, don't spend too much money (unless it's on food)
• Keep in touch with people back home so they don't worry too much, but I'm sure they will anyway
• Travel to central America, Mexico City, Veracruz and the Yucatan Peninsula (if possible)
• Senior Study
• Conduct interviews and firsthand research of microfinance lending in the state of Puebla for senior study

Why I'm Studying Abroad

My goals for studying abroad are: 1) to complete my International Studies major and my Japanese minor. 2) To better learn Japanese. I have been learning Japanese for years now and am good at understanding, but I don't do well with speaking. 3) To experience a culture different from my own. I have never left the country so I am taking this opportunity to learn and experience another culture. 4) To acquire adaptation skills for future professions. I really admire the Japanese work ethic. Also I plan to work in Japan; having this experience will help me acquire that occupation. and 4) to take the first step to becoming a globalized individual who is aware of culture differences and how it affects our world. Since I've never left the U.S., it's difficult for me to see the world outside the U.S. stereotypes provided by media and Americans. I want to see the world for myself and studying abroad is how I want to start.

The Purpose of Going Abroad

The primary purpose for going abroad is to have an experience. Experience another country, experience another culture, experience being on your own. Studying abroad is a great opportunity to not only travel but also learn. You may learn a lot by going on a vacation somewhere you have never been before, but when the objective is to gain something academically or professionally, you are almost guaranteed to learn something you add to your professional and academic career. You could also learn something about yourself.

My goal for going abroad for an internship is to learn. I want to gain skills for my chosen career path and apply what I know in a professional environment. I could do this with an internship at home, but going abroad pushes you a bit further. It would challenge me by forcing me outside of my comfort zone.

I will not only have the task of completing the work or jobs assigned to me by my site supervisor but also adapt and interact with those who live in a different cultural context. Along with learning from them, I will be teaching them and acting as a representative for those who share my cultural background. That could include my nationality, ethnicity, race, or socioeconomic status. Regardless of what population I am perceived to be a part of, I will be an ambassador. As uncomfortable as they may be for me, this will challenge me to be a voice for a larger group of people.

My goal for interning abroad is not only to gain skills for a career but also be a student, a teacher, and become a more well-rounded individual. It is possible that I may have some abilities that I am not aware of and this experience can bring them to light.

Goals

   My main goals for studying aboard is to expand my point of view by learning how other cultures and countries see the world. My whole life, I have been in America and while there are many different types of people here, they all had a common trait having lived in America for a large amount of time. The difference in culture and experiences gained while germinating in a different country will hopefully give me valuable insight how people who haven't lived in America interact with the world. Getting opinions about sports, politics, music, food, etc. will be great for my own development as i walk closers to post college life. While extremely excited for my upcoming trip I also have a creeping feeling of nervousness like the first time I left home, but I feel it will eventually subside before I board the plane. The main thing I want to do is meet people, go to a soccer game, and learn some new recipes i bring back home.

GOALS:

Goals. One of my favorite words. It’s pointless to go through life without goals. There is always something to strive for in every situation. Life is about wanting to better yourself and goals help achieve that. One of my lifelong goals is to experience other cultures and countries. This world is filled with so many beautiful things that can only be experienced when you step outside of your comfort zone. When you leave your happy, protective bubble.  To me, studying abroad is the most amazing chance to experience this. To step outside the bubble and into the unknown. 

My main goal when studying abroad is to elevate my cultural awareness and skills of cultural assimilation. I recently had an amazing study abroad experience in New Zealand. Throughout the entirety of the trip, I witnessed how unaware our culture has become. We rarely stop and observe what is around us. I feel that my awareness greatly increased because I realized how self-important we act. Taking up large spaces and having boisterous attitudes. I hope that in my future study abroad endeavors I will be able to further my skills of cultural assimilation and observance.

I am so happy that I had the chance to first travel with a group to New Zealand before embarking on my own journey elsewhere. Prior to this trip, I was quite nervous about going abroad for a full semester. There are so many ifs and I am more of a confirmed type of person. I was worried of getting lost or forgetting something. One of the lessons that I took away from the New Zealand trip is that some of the most amazing things happen when you are in a place you aren’t familiar with and you have no idea how to get back to the hostel. These situations force you to think and really use the resources around you. I am actually excited about getting lost in whichever city I am placed in. The best food, shops and places are found on your journey back. 

I am a little uneasy about being alone in the beginning, but I plan to make the best of my situation. There is no time to waste! I am very excited to immerse myself into the culture. I find cultures so fascinating and awe-filling. There are so many things that are different in other countries that we never learn about. It is always the small things that surprise me the most.

Throughout my semester abroad I hope to visit nearby countries to maximize the experience. I think this is the best opportunity to visit various countries while saving some money and time. I think this will really enhance the trip by being able to closely observe cultures that are located near to one another. I also plan to embrace all the mishaps. I am not going to go as far to say there will never be a time that I am frustrated with a situation, but I hope that I can, in that moment, realize that I should be embracing the trouble not freaking out about it. Along with embracing the mishaps, I definitely plan to step out of my comfort zone and do activities that I wouldn’t always participate in here in the US. I think by fully accepting the culture and all the “norms” I will have a maximized experience. Stay tuned to see how that works out for me!