UF IN MERIDA:
TROPICAL ECOLOGY & SPANISH
The Merida city sign in the Plaza Grande which marks the city's center
In the summer of 2018, I traveled outside of the United States for the first time, on a study abroad trip to Merida, Mexico. I chose to embark on this journey because I have always wanted to travel to Latin America, I have learned a lot about Mexico in my studies, and I wanted to complete my minor in Spanish with some practical application. I had always thought that people just overreact when they talk about how studying abroad changed their life, but then I also took the leap. I had never thought it plausible, for financial reasons, but I saved up enough money to pay for the trip – and it definitely greatly impacted my life.
Among the biggest personal outcomes of my stay abroad in Mexico was the improvement of my ability to evaluate different perspectives on global issues. I definitely had a great deal of culture shock arriving in Merida, because I honestly had no idea what to expect. I knew that Mexico was a poorer country than the U.S., but I had also tried not to buy in to the common misperception of extreme poverty in less developed countries. The standard of living is obviously different in Mexico, but I was very surprised by just how comfortably they live. Granted, most of the host families—mine included—did not have air conditioning, but living in Mexico was not as different as I thought it would be. Furthermore, and perhaps most intriguing to me, their attitude towards poverty is so much different. On the one hand, poverty in Mexico is generally much worse than poverty here in the United States; however, impoverished Mexicans are not as unhappy with their situation.
One of the most impactful aspects of my trip to Mexico was definitely the homestay and how immersive the program was in terms of utilizing a foreign language. As I mentioned before, I decided to finish off my Spanish minor through a study abroad opportunity, mostly because I knew that that is one of the best ways to improve your language skills. My personal growth and self-reliance improved dramatically while abroad, in part due to the necessity of communicating in the Spanish language. The homestay with my amazing host family was easily the most immersive part of the whole trip, especially since they specifically only used Spanish so that I would improve. However, trying to use Spanish around town and on various excursions also helped out a lot. I even mustered up the courage to speak in Spanish in front of an entire room of Mexican students at a university (UTC) in the town of Izamal! Since I have been back home, I have definitely noticed I am more willing to engage with new people and try new things.
Perhaps my biggest self-improvement from my study abroad experience in Mexico has been my flexibility. There were several instances in which I had to exercise flexibility in cooperating with others during my time there. From getting lost downtown my second night in Merida and having to take a taxi home, to wandering around the small fishing town of Rio Lagartos asking locals where I could find a store to buy clothes, quick thinking and cooperation were must-have skills. Furthermore, I had to exercise a lot of flexibility and tolerance within the study abroad group itself. I was the oldest student on the trip, because the majority of my group were incoming freshman who had won a scholarship. This was fairly difficult to deal with a lot of the time just because the maturity gap was very noticeable. However, after getting to know a lot of the other students and actually opening up with them, things were much friendlier by the end of the trip.