I used to cringe when I attended lectures on the importance of networking. The word evoked images of corporate functions and fancy receptions where you saunter up to the most powerful, well-connected people and ask for their business cards. With my aversion to small talk and tendency to mistrust authority, this idea of networking made me want to crawl into a hole and hide in my liberal arts paradise. I unfairly reduced networking to a mechanism that only helps those who want to climb the social ladder.

Then, I decided to apply for the Watson, a fellowship that funds recent graduates for a year of travel, study, and exploration in several foreign countries. As the application deadline drew closer, I fought a growing sense of panic as all these doubts welled up. How will I decide which countries to live in? Will people talk to me? How will I survive in these places that I’ve never visited?

I had an idea that I loved, but I was at a loss in terms of making it happen. As I thought about all the places I wanted to visit, I realized that many of my friends at Scripps and other colleges have traveled, studied, or lived in remarkable places. My friends are my pillars of support; they are also incredible resources. I started writing emails and reaching out to the people closest to me, and I found that they shared my enthusiasm. My best friend, who majors in Arabic and hopes to study in Egypt next year, squealed her excitement into the phone. “I could translate for you,” she said. Just from reaching out to my peers, I got replies from people with connections in Japan, South Korea, Egypt…All of a sudden, I had an overwhelming number of choices. A friend offered her family home in Egypt as a potential place to stay.

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This week, I started my new service-learning job at a small bilingual magazine in Granada, Spain. I never expected to work abroad during my college years, but today I found myself sipping milk tea and struggling to find the @ symbol on a European keyboard (It’s surprisingly difficult). One of my favorite aspects of my study abroad program SIT Spain is the focus on learning through immersion, which naturally translates to working in the community.

Compared to my classmates, my project is a bit unusual. Working for a tourist-oriented magazine means that I would be doing research on culture and events in the community as an observer, rather than contributing to the community through more direct service. However, being a part of a small publication means that there are many more opportunities to write and report on issues that are of interest to you. I already have a list of potential article topics including organic/vegetarian dining, community gardens, and street art in Granada. Continue reading →

Though some say that Spain is not so different from the United States, I am constantly reminded of the opposite. I often find myself wandering down a side street at two in the afternoon, peering into shops that are closed for lunch. The Spanish schedule is certainly different from the 9 to 5 work days that I’m accustomed to. Especially in the Southern province of Andalusia, the warm, idyllic Mediterranean setting births a laid-back atmosphere. As a result, it’s not unusual to peek down an alley that is completely silent in the middle of the day because the shop owners have left for lunch and the famous Spanish siesta.

Perhaps not surprisingly, I found the relaxed Spanish timetable easy to get used to. While it is convenient to be able to walk into a grocery store for a snack without worrying about midday closures, I do appreciate the long breaks that allow my family to get together and have a traditional, relaxed lunch daily, when everyone has time to recount their day and catch up with the family. I also appreciate the stretch of time after lunch to chat with my parents while sipping herbal tea, and then curling up on the couch to fall asleep with Spanish novels in hand.

However, the leisurely attitude of Andalusians toward work schedules also lead to missed appointments and scheduling mishaps. Yesterday afternoon, I was riding the bus to my new internship with an English language magazine, when I got a call from my supervisor, cancelling our meeting because something came up. I felt a flash of disappointment, but remembered my program director’s warning about Andalusian schedules. I decided to let go of my (already loose) grip on the rigid “American” concept of time, and made the most of my afternoon by enjoying the sunshine and drawing the Cathedral of Granada in my sketchbook.

Today, I am looking forward to (hopefully) actually starting my first day at the internship. I am learning through experience that a laid-back attitude is sometimes essential for adjusting to a new workplace, school, or country. At Scripps, I was used to having constant meetings and classes throughout the day; my Google calendar was color coded by various activities. While I do miss my vibrant, fast paced academic and personal life on campus, a relaxed schedule certainly has many benefits, including the ability to focus on loved ones and develop my creative interests. I am realizing that I do not have to feel guilty about occasionally allowing time for myself, and I hope that I will carry a piece of this new, “Spanish” mindset back to campus next semester.

Every morning, my 45 minute bus commute takes me through the center of Granada. Squished between European youth clad in trendy leather jackets pouring over textbooks and worksheets, I’m reminded that I live in a vibrant college town. My youngest host sister, a law and economics student at the University of Granada, has finally emerged from the void of final exams after weeks of preparation. Now, she has time to relax with an episode of “Gossip Girl” subtitled in Spanish and talk to me about her college life.

Since arriving in Granada, I have moved in with a wonderful host family. As an only child growing up, living in a family with four sisters is full of unexpected laughter and surprises. As my sisters are all around my age or slightly older, connecting with them about their career paths is not only fantastic way to learn about Spanish culture and educational system, but also helpful for me to reflect on my own choices.

My other sisters are all burgeoning Spanish young professionals. Irene is a secondary school science teacher and brings home painstakingly decorated science reports reminiscent of the colorful poster-boards that I obsessed over as a child. Maria is completing her residency as a dermatologist in a hospital, and works long hours compared to most, and Esther works for a travel agency. But none of them seems to agonize about their career choices. In Spain, students have to choose a potential subject area to study after they finish secondary school at age 16. They can then enter into the college preparatory Baccalaureate system, which is divided into five different tracks—Arts, Nature and Health Sciences, Sciences and Engineering, Social Sciences, and Humanities. Aside from these predesigned tracks, students are required to take some courses in Spanish literature, history, and languages.

This highly specific educational system is the norm in Spain and utilized in much of Europe. I begin to realize that the American system, which encourages more holistic education and exploration, is rooted in cultural values of individuality and experimentation. However, it is difficult to make positive or negative judgments without taking into account Spanish cultural contexts. Unlike many Americans, Spaniards do not define their identity by their chosen vocation, and generally place less value on careers. Nevertheless, I appreciate the freedoms I’ve had to experiment with crossing, bridging, and intersecting disciplines. In Spain, you choose a career and strive to meet the necessary requirements to achieve that career. And if you change your mind, you have to repeat the baccalaureate to meet prerequisites. From my experience, I entertain potential careers while experimenting with subjects that captivate my attention. Rather than focusing on achieving a specific goal, I dream of having the freedom to design a job that incorporates the many areas that are important to my life. I am aware that my concept of self is intertwined with my vision of the perfect career, but perhaps over the next few months in Spain, I can further evaluate a middle ground between “living to work” and “working to live.” I aspire to achieve a balance between two cultures, two attitudes, and two systems. Overly ambitious? Maybe, but I can’t imagine doing anything else.

Remember when I wrote about my indecisiveness in my last post? Well, my desire to embrace seemingly contradictory entities complicated my decision to study abroad. I knew I wanted to study abroad because of my fascination with different cultures and their interactions. As a politics and international relations major at Scripps, I constantly reflect on the implications of institutional and cultural change for international communities. Even though I have an personal understanding of globalization and its consequences from living in the United States and China, I wanted to gain fresh perspectives.

When it came time to choose a place to study abroad, I was torn. Did I want to go to a developing country experiencing rapid social and political transformation? What region of the world do I want to be in? I considered Asia because I have family in China and have a good understanding of culture and customs. However, going to Asia, particularly China, would not be a completely new experience for me. Understanding the Middle East would also be extremely helpful for future international work, and I felt personally connected to the region as my hometown Urumqi is close to Kazakhstan. I was also interested in women’s issues in the Middle East, but was hesitant to commit to a region I had little contact with. Similarly, Africa seemed foreign to me, and I knew my parents would be concerned if I traveled to a place they did not understand well. However, I knew I wanted to work with developing societies in the future, and believed that I could acquire the necessary tools from my semester abroad.

But even though I am passionate about globalization and social justice work, I also wanted to travel and live in Europe. Though I had never been to Europe, years of Western education made the region seem familiar. I also reminisced on a childish infatuation with the British monarchy, and a not-so-childish infatuation with literature. Because I wanted to study English and had not planned to continue a foreign language in college, I thought England would be an ideal option. I stumbled upon the Pomona in Cambridge program while researching and chatting with my friend from Pomona about study abroad, and promptly fell in love with the idea of Cambridge. I gathered my materials, conducted the necessary interviews, and petitioned to apply for the program.

My petition was accepted, but I hit a roadblock. I had applied and been accepted to a fellowship program with the Institute for International Public Policy. IIPP is designed to support minority students who are interested in careers in international affairs, and provides academic and financial support to encourage students to enter graduate school. The fellowship was an amazing opportunity that included a scholarship for study abroad, but only for countries where English is not the primary language. My plans for Cambridge fell through, and I frantically started researching other programs. It was already August, and I was sitting in my grandmother’s apartment in China with no plans for a semester abroad. I am not a person who stresses often, but I began to get nervous.

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