Written by Sophie Hastings (The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), Student Correspondent for CET Colombia, Spring 2020
“Wait, are you sure about Latin America?”, “Isn’t it dangerous?”, “You mean Columbia, South Carolina?” “What about Spain?” These are just a few of the questions I received when I decided to look for study abroad programs in Latin America and, yes, people really did ask me if I was studying abroad across a state line. I was as confused as you are. These types of questions amplified after I finally made my decision to come to Colombia, but first, why Colombia?
The easy answer is that I study international politics, nation-states, and social movements as my major and my area of focus is Latin America. But, no rule said I had to study abroad in Latin America — no pressure, not anything. I easily could have decided to go to Europe and be another White girl in Spain, living her best life, traveling to different countries every weekend. But, even for an avid traveler like me, that seemed unappealing.
Don’t get me wrong, I think Spain is beautiful and has a lot to offer for an exchange. However, I felt that the programs there and even to other Latin American countries were not going to give me the immersive experience that I wanted. I wanted to be surrounded by Spanish, Latin music, and Latinxs. I didn’t want to take an easy path and spend my whole semester conversing in mostly English. I wanted to come out of my program more informed and fluent in Spanish.
When I saw that CET had a program in Colombia, I thought it was the most interesting program that I had seen. I wasn’t just taking classes that fit my major, but I would have a Colombian roommate, I would learn about displacement and Afro-Colombian communities, and I would experience something completely different than my normal life in North Carolina. I also would get the chance to see the difference between two very different spaces in Colombia – public and private universities.
So, I decided to apply. I applied and got accepted to be in the second cohort before my university had even approved the program, but I decided to defer to Spring 2020 to give myself a little more time at home. And to give myself more time to convince my family and friends that Colombia was the best option for me.
Luckily, I had very supportive friends and was involved in an organization at UNC called PorColombia before my study abroad. I learned about the food, culture, and even politics of Colombia and that prepared me for the program. It also helped me prepare my family. To them, and many others, Colombia is considered a dangerous country and the judgments placed on this country, before even visiting it, frustrated me. I wanted to challenge those stereotypes and challenge myself. More than that, I wanted to learn about an underrepresented community and challenge the way in which I was taught to think.
So far, I have done all of that and we have only been here for 6 weeks. I have learned so much and I can’t wait to learn more. So, yes, I am sure about Latin America. No, it’s not more dangerous than a big city in the US. It’s not Columbia, it’s Colombia. And I’m sure Spain is beautiful but I’m content living and studying in Cali.