A few months ago, I finished reading Gabriel García Márquez’s novel “One Hundred Years of Solitude.” A recurring theme throughout the book is the idea that time is a circle. The events and actions that happen throughout an individual’s life happen over and over again. Not just the individual, but… read more
College of Liberal Arts
Worries Don’t Disappear, But Excitement Offsets Them
I desired to study abroad ever since the summer of 2019, when a wide-eyed freshman me arrived at the great University of Texas for orientation. Among all the sessions for clubs, organizations and societies over those two days, “Devin of the past” felt most intrigued and inspired after talking to… read more
Mein Neues Zuhause (My New Home) — Freiburg
Forty days. Forty days since I left the U.S. for Freiburg. Germany. Forty days of adjusting, adapting and acclimating. Forty days, and I think it’s safe to say that Freiburg is starting to feel like home. The realization hit me one weekend when I was returning from a chaotic trip… read more
I Studied Abroad … Now What?
After planning my study abroad trip for more than three years (thanks to what I’ve nicknamed “pandemic patience”), my four months in Costa Rica passed in a flash. I’ve been back in the United States for a little over a month now, and my time abroad already feels like a… read more
Falling in Love with Language Learning
Spanish Frustrations Between my mediocre high school Spanish program and the intense 6-hour courses at UT, I had taken 7 years of Spanish classes in the United States before arriving in Costa Rica. Despite my good grades, I had little to show for it in the conversation department. As someone… read more
Great Expectations: Adapting to Classroom and Grading Expectations in the UK
I have always been a perfectionist. Even in high school, I always held myself to the highest, and frankly, most unattainable, degree for success. Since coming to the University of Texas, I have tried my hardest to reevaluate my standards. Of course, I make sure to work as hard as… read more
Host Family Life
First Impressions Within an hour of my arrival in San José, I had been dropped off at a papaya-colored house 75 meters east of the Palí supermarket, which I soon learned was as close to an official address as you can get in Costa Rica. As my host mom, or… read more
Sucking Out All the Marrow of Life: Executive Dysfunction and Adapting to Life in Edinburgh, Scotland
“I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms,… read more
Overcoming Barriers to Study Abroad
Three years ago, I was applying to colleges with the hope of spending a portion of my college career abroad. As a first-generation student, being accepted into my first-choice college was an accomplishment in itself, but as soon as I stepped on campus, I began planning for my ultimate goal–a… read more
The Language Landscape of Ukraine
I’ll be honest: Ukraine was not my first choice for study abroad programs. I had my heart set on a cross-cultural diplomacy program in Havana, Cuba and St. Petersburg, Russia. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be as COVID happened and Russia became more strict in visa provisions. There’s a saying… read more
