Costa Rica Ready

    After my frantic packing and last minute trip to CVS... I am ready to go to Costa Rica! Who knows if I have everything. Knowing my luck I have probably forgotten something important... like pants or underwear. Maybe both? Nope. Just checked and I am Costa Rica ready! This eagerly awaited experience is finally here and man am I ready! I am a student at Auburn University (War Eagle!), a proud member of Delta Zeta, and I am majoring in Biomedical Sciences with a Minor in Spanish. I have a pretty amazing support system. In other words, my family and friends rock. I have always loved to travel and ever since my trip to Spain last summer I have been eager to study abroad. However, not everyone was supportive of my decision to go to Costa Rica. In fact, my College of Science and Mathematics advisers and my Chemistry professor this year highly discouraged that I study abroad. So, here is why I nodded politely, smiled, and then so blatantly did not listen to my advisers and professor. Call me a rebel child...

1.  I am minoring in Spanish. Costa Rica is a Spanish speaking country. Pretty simple... 
2. I am not vacationing... I will be studying. A LOT. I will receive 7 credit hours in a month. Yep... Monday- Friday (8am- 2pm) learning a different language. I am also living with a host family who will help me to speak the language.
3. "Medical Schools don't like to see that you have studied abroad...They believe that it is selfish." I am sorry, but no. NO. Spanish is rapidly becoming one of the most spoken languages in the United States. I want to be a doctor one day and would like to speak the language of a potential patient. Learning the language that people in your country speak is practical... not selfish. 
4. I want to do "Doctors Without Borders" or other forms of mission work. Imagine the difference that knowing the language of a patient who has no idea who you are or is possibility frightened because this could be their first medical treatment ever received. When you speak the language of someone, a HUGE barrier is broken. We use languages to express our thoughts and emotions and to fulfill our wants and needs. When their is a language barrier... these thoughts, emotions, wants, or needs can be lost. Therefore, your ability to understand the person sitting in front of you that you want to help goes far beyond classroom knowledge.  
5. There is only so much that classroom Spanish can teach you. To truly learn a language you must immerse yourself in the culture and speak the language. 

So, there you have it... the roots of my rebellious tendencies towards higher authorities. In all seriousness though, most medical professions require you to be sociable and understanding, especially doctors. You have to understand people, their backgrounds and languages, and habits/behaviors. You won't get that from a classroom. Sure, you will learn how people physically work, but emotionally? No way. To understand the world you have to try to understand the people in it. Me? I plan on understanding the world one person at a time with the people I am blessed to meet... starting in Costa Rica.