The first international event that I attended was a talk by David Geggus, a UF History professor, at the Harn Museum of Art. It was essentially a collaboration between art and history, in which he described the life of Toussaint L'Ouverture, leader of the Haitian Revolution. The talk was very informative and surprising; for example, I learned that L'Ouverture himself at one point actually owned slaves. The gallery talk really opened my eyes to the realities of the time period, and broadened my horizons as an international scholar. My focus within International Studies is Latin America and the Caribbean, but I had not learned a lot about the Caribbean until I attended this great event.

The film chosen for the Gainesville Latino Film Festival opening night was Todos Queremos a Alguien, or "Everybody Loves Somebody." In short, the movie tells the tale of Clara and how she must choose between an old flame and a new, exciting romantic partner. Produced in Mexico with a predominantly Mexican cast, the film was a very entertaining romantic comedy. I had studied abroad in Mexico not too long before seeing this film. For this reason, I felt that it was a really good test of my newly improved Spanish comprehension skills, plus I felt like I understood a lot more references to Mexican culture and daily life.

Martin Tillman's talk on how to effectively communicate your study abroad experience to employers was extremely helpful and informative. He basically focused on how studying abroad is not nearly as beneficial for employment unless you learn how to effectively explain how it helped you grow as an individual. Again, since I had recently studied abroad, this talk provided me with plenty of valuable information. I now possess the skills necessary to describe how international experience - like study abroad - has benefited me personally and sets me apart from the competition.

Part of UF's Latinx Studies Lecture Series, this was an amazing talk by Dr. Jonathan Rosa of Stanford University. The topic really fell in line with all of my interests, especially the idea of borders and the geopolitical factors involved. Dr. Rosa's ethnographic research in Chicago public schools was an interesting look into latinx identity and common stereotypes surrounding the Spanish language. I really learned a lot from this presentation, and it definitely helped to reaffirm my international research interests.