My name is Elizabeth, and I was a Spanish Studies major at the University of Minnesota. And I studied abroad last fall with the Minnesota Studies in International Development in Ecuador.

I took a lot of time looking at all the programs, and I was looking for something really different. So I was looking through the programs, and when I saw Ecuador, I was like, ‘who decides to go to Ecuado? I don’t know anything about it!’ And when I looked at the program itself, Minnesota Studies in International Development, it sounded like something that I would be really interested in for the semester. And another thing that really attracted me was that with the MSID program, you spend half your semester working in an internship that deals with whatever subject you decide to pursue during your time there. So that was the major part of my decision: a country that I knew very little about, and an internship opportunity as well.

A New Country

The country itself was just really new. It’s three different zones: one-third of the country of beach area, one-third the country of these crazy high mountains; the Andes, and the other third you have rainforest. So there are a lot of new experiences.

Benefits of a Host Family

I lived with a mother and I had two host brothers. It was great. I actually felt like I was a part of the family. I still talk to my mom and host brothers.
It was nice because my host brother and I were able to connect as friends, and he was able to take me out and show me things people my age in Ecuador like to do. I met a bunch of Ecuadorian people that I probably never would have met. He took me on trips to go see other parts of Ecuador that I probably wouldn’t have been able to see. It was a really great experience. I definitely would not have seen as much had I not lived with a family.

Interning with MSID

For my internship, I worked with a micro credit union and learned to be a micro financial loan officer, sort of. My job was to go with the loan officers who go out and approve people for micro credit loans. We drove to very remote parts of the country.

Improving Spanish

By the time I was done, I felt so comfortable speaking Spanish. I had never felt that comfortable with the language before. It was nice, it was like taking four years of Spanish in one semester. It’s that equivalent because you just learn so much and you use it everyday, almost every hour of the day. If you want to improve your Spanish, that’s the way to do it.

So you get Spanish class every day, you get the individualized: I had a microfinance class everyday, and then obviously history, culture. You get to choose if you want to follow a microfinance track, a biology track, a medical track, or a social science track. So you get a choice of certain classes, but for the most part, they want to teach you about Ecuador and its history. And of course International Development; that was the main focus. It’s a pretty long day, but it’s good, you learn a lot.

Returning Home

The job I have right now: one of the main reasons why she gave me the job is because she was so impressed that I had survived an internship in micro credit in a foreign country and she said, ‘I’ve never seen a candidate have this kind of experience on their resume before.’ And she said it made me stand out to have that on my resume.

Elizabeth’s Advice

I would just say in general, to future people who are thinking about the program: definitly look into it, it’s different from any experience you’re going to have anywhere else. You really get to know a culture and country, and that’s what makes it so much fun. It’s the experience of a lifetime.