Over the past four and a half years, I have had the privilege to study abroad with the University of Oklahoma four times, and visit two study centers, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Arezzo, Italy. The first couple of times going abroad was with the President's Community Scholars (PCS). With PCS, we not only had the opportunity to visit another country and learn about the culture, history, and more, but we were able to give back while doing so.
In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, we partnered with an after-school program in the most extensive hill favela in Rio, Rochina. We met the kids who became a part of this program for their parents to let them see what other opportunities they could do compared to what was typical of kids their ages to be involved in. I got to meet and work with the kids twice, once in my first year and again going into my junior year. Going to Brazil taught me a lot about inequality on a grander scale, different environmental problems, and food inequality.
The second time I visited Brazil, I had the same opportunities to work with the after school group and learn more about the different environments and conservation efforts done by groups there. However, my class course was to learn more about advertising and PR laws and regulations. This allowed me to see how another country viewed how to run ads on tv if they can post them up, as we do in the U.S. on billboards and more. This was eye-opening because before then, I had not learned much about how other countries or cities specifically view publication laws.
As for my time studying in Italy was a bit different. The first time I went to Italy was again with the President's Community Scholars. We completed a service project while there and learned about renaissance art history in various cities throughout Italy. Our service project focused on painting and creating a garden space for girls' home in Arezzo, Italy. We were able to talk to the girls' whose rooms we were painting and do what we could for them, painting butterflies, stripes, or just one color of their choice. With this project, we were able to see the immediate impact within the community.
Another trip to Italy was spending a semester abroad. I studied in the Spring of 2020; as that ended very differently than we started, it still had an impact on me. I had the opportunity to have an internship with OU in Arezzo, the study center in Italy as their Marketing and Media intern. This allowed me to get a feel for what it takes to create a social media plan, while recruiting prospective students and maintaining relationships with my supervisors and the Director of OUA. Besides my internship, I also enrolled in an Italian language course, a History of Italian Film course, and Environmental Conservation course.
This was a bit of a challenge when Covid-19 pandemic sent us home. We adjusted to a 7-hour time change and finished our schooling and internships all virtually. An unexpected ending to my semester there but I met some of my closest friends and mentors while there.
I have always enjoyed traveling and seeing new cultures, people, and things that can leave a lasting impact. With the unexpected ending, I decided to see if I could return to OUA for my final semester of undergraduate. I was elated when they told me I could return and asked me to return to my previous internship with them.
Returning barely felt like an adjustment and more like I had returned home, I settled in and started my internship. Where I became a supervisor to Italian interns from the local university, we talked about the differences of social media and created a plan about our social media plan for the semester. On top of that I also took Renaissance Art in Italy, a class that restored my interest in artists and museums. We took class trips weekly to Siena, Florence and Rome to talk about the various forms of art as well as the artists. I also took an Italian Culture Literacy class that covered all things Italian.
Returning was one of the best decisions I had, it was the perfect ending to my time at OU and graduating while abroad will always be something to remember.
In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, we partnered with an after-school program in the most extensive hill favela in Rio, Rochina. We met the kids who became a part of this program for their parents to let them see what other opportunities they could do compared to what was typical of kids their ages to be involved in. I got to meet and work with the kids twice, once in my first year and again going into my junior year. Going to Brazil taught me a lot about inequality on a grander scale, different environmental problems, and food inequality.
The second time I visited Brazil, I had the same opportunities to work with the after school group and learn more about the different environments and conservation efforts done by groups there. However, my class course was to learn more about advertising and PR laws and regulations. This allowed me to see how another country viewed how to run ads on tv if they can post them up, as we do in the U.S. on billboards and more. This was eye-opening because before then, I had not learned much about how other countries or cities specifically view publication laws.
As for my time studying in Italy was a bit different. The first time I went to Italy was again with the President's Community Scholars. We completed a service project while there and learned about renaissance art history in various cities throughout Italy. Our service project focused on painting and creating a garden space for girls' home in Arezzo, Italy. We were able to talk to the girls' whose rooms we were painting and do what we could for them, painting butterflies, stripes, or just one color of their choice. With this project, we were able to see the immediate impact within the community.
Another trip to Italy was spending a semester abroad. I studied in the Spring of 2020; as that ended very differently than we started, it still had an impact on me. I had the opportunity to have an internship with OU in Arezzo, the study center in Italy as their Marketing and Media intern. This allowed me to get a feel for what it takes to create a social media plan, while recruiting prospective students and maintaining relationships with my supervisors and the Director of OUA. Besides my internship, I also enrolled in an Italian language course, a History of Italian Film course, and Environmental Conservation course.
This was a bit of a challenge when Covid-19 pandemic sent us home. We adjusted to a 7-hour time change and finished our schooling and internships all virtually. An unexpected ending to my semester there but I met some of my closest friends and mentors while there.
I have always enjoyed traveling and seeing new cultures, people, and things that can leave a lasting impact. With the unexpected ending, I decided to see if I could return to OUA for my final semester of undergraduate. I was elated when they told me I could return and asked me to return to my previous internship with them.
Returning barely felt like an adjustment and more like I had returned home, I settled in and started my internship. Where I became a supervisor to Italian interns from the local university, we talked about the differences of social media and created a plan about our social media plan for the semester. On top of that I also took Renaissance Art in Italy, a class that restored my interest in artists and museums. We took class trips weekly to Siena, Florence and Rome to talk about the various forms of art as well as the artists. I also took an Italian Culture Literacy class that covered all things Italian.
Returning was one of the best decisions I had, it was the perfect ending to my time at OU and graduating while abroad will always be something to remember.