My time in Argentina has officially come to an end. Yesterday we landed in Atlanta before heading off to our hometowns, marking the finale of our two weeks abroad. Who knew that in two weeks you could do and learn so much? From immersing in the culture to going on site visits to different hospitals and community centers around Buenos Aires and having lectures from professionals within the healthcare field, I gained so much from my trip, and I would go back in a heartbeat.
In the two weeks that I spent in Argentina, I did more than I thought was possible going into it. I built some great friendships with some people I may not have met if it wasn’t for this trip. In addition, I was able to experience the healthcare sector firsthand for the very first time, allowing me to really see if it is something I want to pursue as I continue on my college journey. But most of all, I learned so much about the culture of Argentina through our cultural activities, as well as exploring the city and interacting with the natives throughout my time there.
Personally, I think the highlights of my trip go hand in hand with what I was able to learn throughout it. For example, one of my favorite academic activities was when we got to visit one of the MBA classes at Austral while they were doing a simulation about operations management. I was then able to apply that knowledge from the simulation to our visit to Andrómaco, a pharmaceutical company, the next day. I think this is one of the most important things that we were able to do with this program with all of the academic things we did. We would learn about healthcare in the classroom and then be able to apply our knowledge firsthand when we went on our site visits, allowing me to learn much more than if I just listened to the lectures.
In addition to the strictly academic part of the trip, the cultural immersion of the trip was definitely a meaningful aspect. From our trek out to the ranch to see the gauchos perform to our group tango lesson and just being able to explore different parts of the city in our free time, we were really able to experience all aspects of the culture of Argentina. And you obviously cannot forget about the food there. I think I gained about ten pounds from all the meat and empanadas that I ate there, but it was well worth it.
Studying abroad in Argentina was filled with moments I will never forget, and I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to do so. I hope that I can study abroad in a Spanish-speaking country again in the future, with becoming fluent in Spanish as my ultimate goal. Lastly, I want to thank everybody that made this trip possible, including my parents, Bradley Miner, Dr. Grant Martsolf, and all of the CAPA and Austral staff. They made the inaugural Plus3 Argentina an amazing experience, and I am so happy that I could be a part of it.
Until next time – Ciao!