Center for Global Education & Experience, Augsburg University

A memorable experience? Impossible to pick just one. Traveling to Guatemala and El Salvador with the group maybe? I chose the program because I wanted a social justice focused program in a Spanish speaking country. For two months we stayed in the CEMAL houses which are across the street from each other. You have a shared room with one, two, or three roommates and shared, but private bathrooms. Nice common areas and lots of room to hang out, computer room, basketball courts, community kitchen. You get really close with the other students. In the middle of the semester you spend a month with a carefully chosen and trained host family in a nearby neighborhood. You have a private bedroom and shared bath with the host family. My host family was so loving and welcoming and invited me on all of their activities.

The decision to study abroad was by far the best decision I made in my undergraduate years. I was exposed to a different world, a different view of social work, a different way or livening and it was all so enriching. I walked out of this program as a different person with a different aspect on the world. I still reflect back on everything I learned in this program and beyond blessed to have the experiencing of livening and studying abroad.

There were so many memorable experiences! Probably visiting a cooperative farm in El Salvador called Nueva Esperanza. There our group heard the heart wrenching stories of the community, as well as how they had worked to build a new life and learn about their community now and where they were headed in their future. I went on a 2 week J-term first through the same program. I found the organization of the program so wonderful that it inspired me to want learn more about social justice and other issues in the country, that I signed up for more. This first trip really was the tipping point in my current career path.