What inspired you to work for Middlebury - C.V. Starr Schools Abroad?
I truly believe in the core values of Middlebury CV Starr Schools Abroad: providing students with an academic and life experience that is authentically Spanish through full language and cultural immersion, as well as guided independence.
The best way to learn a foreign language and know its culture is by immersing oneself in the host country and live like a local. It's not only the most efficient way, but also the easiest and most rewarding!
By means of the Language Pledge® (a promise to speak only the target language for the duration of the program), students fully engage with the local culture and society. The program staff supports students and helps them develop the necessary intercultural skills to grow and thrive.
Guessing, learning, and tasting!
What advice would you tell your pre-travel self?
If you really want to gain a deep grasp of your own culture, who you are, and why you are the way you are, go live and study abroad!
One thing is to read a book or watch a video about a foreign country/culture; another is to travel abroad. Those are all great means to learn about other ways of being in the world. However, those experiences rarely transform us. A completely different thing is to live in a foreign country and immerse yourself in the local culture by doing what locals usually do: work, study, share, and engage with your neighbors, your classmates, your co-workers, your new gym buddies, your church fellows, the bank clerk down the corner, or your local librarian.
Experience life in a new light. You'll see shades of color and ways of experiencing life, death, love, loss, friendship, and family you've never seen before. And those new colors, lights, and experiences will change your mindset forever: you'll know yourself and the world better, and that will surely help you make better, more informed decisions.
Students visiting Trujillo's castle (built between 9th-13th C)... A few centuries later it was transformed into "Casterly Rock", the iconic stronghold of House Lannister in Game of Thrones!
Why should someone choose Middlebury - C.V. Starr Schools Abroad over competitors?
Through the Language Pledge® (a promise to speak only the target language for the duration of the program), Middlebury offers an authentic Spanish experience.
From day one, students communicate entirely in Spanish: with faculty and staff, and among themselves. They live in Spanish-speaking environments and can directly enroll at local universities where they take regular courses with local students and faculty. They also have the opportunity to do credit-bearing internships at local companies and organizations (from art galleries to law firms and tech companies).
Over the course of the semester, the program staff accompanies students on their personal and academic journeys, providing support and guidance in such a way that they can gain independence and self-confidence. The program has a full-time cultural coordinator who helps students immerse themselves in the local culture by offering volunteering and co-curricular opportunities: work at NGOs, join local sports teams, play in the partner university orchestra, plan cultural activities and field trips across the country, partially financed by the program, participate in dance and cooking workshops, etc.
The director of the program helps students succeed academically (especially those who enroll at the local universities) by providing orientation sessions, individual and personalized academic advising, monthly meetings, etc. The rest of the staff supports students in other aspects of their academic and personal life: housing, health and safety, language tutorials, etc.
What is Middlebury - C.V. Starr Schools Abroad's mission and how do you continue to work toward it?
Students at the Schools Abroad are expected to demonstrate a high level of language proficiency and a commitment to language and cultural immersion. The Schools Abroad engage students in a challenging and dynamic learning environment and facilitate an integrated experience abroad, offering rigorous academic opportunities in many disciplines.
Biking in Madrid
They also make use of the academic and extra-curricular offerings at our partner institutions abroad and take advantage of established resources in the host locales. Through guided independence, our students engage with their host society on a number of different levels, advance their academic and personal interests, and attain enhanced language proficiency, a solid grasp of the cultural, social, political, and historical conditions of their host country, and a deeper understanding of themselves and the world.
The program staff is constantly being trained about best practices and methods to support students academically and personally. Middlebury staff in Spain regularly attend conferences and workshops conducted by APUNE, EUASA, and the Forum on Education Abroad, among others.
Through specific funding opportunities provided by Middlebury, the School in Spain has been able to implement new programs, such as "Conflict Transformation conferences", "Stay Local Weekends", and "Go Global, Stay Local cultural activities and trips."
What do you hope participants take away from your programs?
I hope our students return home transformed, with a better understanding of Spanish culture and society, of themselves, and of their own culture. I hope that they all become more respectful and sensitive about cultural differences and about human vulnerability, as most of them may have felt vulnerable when navigating the local culture.
One of our goals is for them to grow and become more independent, resilient, and self-confident. Hopefully, after spending at least one semester of full language and cultural immersion, they should be better prepared for an increasingly globalized world.
I believe that the rewarding academic, cultural, and social experience of living in Spain will encourage our students not only to return to Spain in the future (as they usually do!), but also to explore and experience new cultures in other countries and regions across the globe!
Why is it important for people to travel abroad and experience new cultures?
When you live abroad, you are exposed to new and different ways of being in the world (beliefs, values, perceptions, and attitudes), and that usually leads to a better understanding and assessment of your own culture and existence. Often, this hands-on cultural experience may help you incorporate what you consider beneficial for your own life, and discard what you no longer need or want.
On the other hand, given that conflict is inherent in human relationships, one of the best ways to gain knowledge about human potential for constructive change and to learn how to manage, transform, or navigate conflict is to be in touch with people from different cultures. By living and studying abroad, one can experience firsthand how other people conduct their lives and manage differences, conflicts, and challenges.
Living abroad usually offers unique opportunities to build bridges across cultural differences, and that should also help us to live together and respect each other.
A trip to the Middle Ages in Segovia!
What does meaningful travel mean to you?
From my own experience (after living in four different countries other than my own), I believe that meaningful travel is when you live in a foreign country like a local: you work, volunteer, or study there, you participate in the local community, in local institutions or organizations, and you support local businesses and services.
Meaningful travel is when you break the surface of a new foreign culture (observable behaviors and practices) and dive deep into it to confront different beliefs, perceptions, attitudes, and values. It's not just about seeing or identifying cultural differences, but about living and experiencing them firsthand.
Meaningful travel is when the contact with the foreign culture alters or transforms some aspects of your own culture/life.
