Student Testimonials

Debra Maertens

Mexico

"Mexico has a special place in my heart now, and I count several new, very dear friends as a result of my time spent there in '97. In fact, I returned to one of the villages in April of 2000 with my daughters. I wanted them to "know" Mexico beyond the American beach towns and the northern border cities."

"I assisted Dr. Donna Chollet with research related to cultural anthropology. We focused specifically on the sugar cane industry and the socioeconomic and political changes in that sector of the economy.

Deb Maertens with her Mexican family in Las Palmillas, Colima

I was on site in Mexico from July 23rd to September 17, 1997. Most of the time was spent in rural sugar cane growing villages."

My advice to someone considering studying abroad. GO FOR IT! It will probably be one of the best decisions of your life! Besides the adventure component of the entire experience, you grow so much personally. You gain confidence from the daily challenges you encounter adjusting to a new culture. You learn a lot about yourself. And you meet awesome people. If you are studying a second language, it's critical that you are immersed in it at some point in your studies. With immersion, your command of the language skyrockets.

When you return to UMM, not only can you speak a second or third language with confidence, your perspectives are so much broader and you are better able to see how what you are studying really does relate to the "real world." Future employers LOVE resumes from people who have spent a significant amount of time abroad. It tells them that you have the courage, adaptability and tenacity to master new experiences and challenges. Most importantly, for me however, was the way spending time abroad brought me to a new realization of my self as an American citizen in relation to the rest of the world. There is a view of the United States that every native born U.S. citizen should have the opportunity to see. I am speaking of a view that can only be seen when one spends a significant amount of time outside of the U.S.

Mexico has a special place in my heart now, and I count several new, very dear friends as a result of my time spent there in '97. In fact, I returned to one of the villages in April of 2000 with my daughters. I wanted them to "know" Mexico beyond the American beach towns and the northern border cities.

Kids in rural Mexico

Experiences

• The times when we weren't working and we were just "hanging out" with the people, drinking beer, talking, laughing, with absolutely NO concept of time! The warmth of the people.
• Standing in the zocolo (the central square) in Mexico city on the eve of Mexico's Independence celebration with thousands of Mexicans while the president steps out on the balcony of the presidential palace and rings the same church bells that Hidalgo rang when he cried for independence from Spain in 1810. And the Mexican president at the end of his speech yelling "Viva Mexico!" and the Mexican people responding with a raised fist and a loud "VIVA!"
• Sitting on the Plaza de las Armas in Veracruz at 2:30 in the morning and it feels like 8:00 pm.. Marimba bands are still playing, little kids are still out hawking gum and I am thoroughly entertained just watching it from a bench until a Cuban cargo sailor sits down and visits. Although he has sailed in and out of ports all over the world, I am the first American he has ever spoken with.
• Watching the phenomenal folkloric ballet in the Palace de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts) in Mexico city. Touring the anthropological museum. Seeing the famous Diego Rivera murals in various public places like the presidential palace and the Palace of Fine Arts.
• Climbing the Temple of the Moon at Teotihuacan and people are sitting at the top of it performing spiritual rituals such as rubbing stones and smoking pot.
• Riding a bus all night long by myself into the state of Chiapas to Palenque to see the famous Mayan Indian ruins. (Not a smart thing or recommended thing to do). In the morning, meeting some European back packers and touring the ruins with them. Riding back up t Veracruz the following evening and the Mexican immigration authorities periodically boarding the bus with their big machine guns, waving flash lights under the seats and in the bathrooms looking for Guatemalans and Hondurans sneaking north along the Gulf Coast.