Grace Argenbright is a senior majoring in Spanish Secondary Education and International Studies. She shares a little bit about her adventure in the WLC.
When I came on my visit I fell in love with the campus and the adventure Iowa State promised. I knew I wanted to pursue Spanish, but I wasn’t quite sure what else I wanted to pair with it. A WLC advisor showed me what I could do at ISU. The final selling point was probably the study abroad programs and the encouragement from the WLC to study abroad. I definitely knew study abroad would be a part of my college story.
My experiences abroad have been the most influential and memorable times in college. I spent the fall semester of my sophomore year in Cáceres, Spain and this past summer, I went to the Dominican Republic with Profe Myers for a three-week global seminar focused on education and environmental sustainability. We worked with a non-profit, completed beautification projects at a public elementary, visited coffee farms, and did lots of fun excursions like jumping and swimming through waterfalls and whitewater rafting!
After this, I stayed in the Dominican Republic to complete an internship as a teaching assistant for the DREAM Project- an educational nonprofit that hosts a four-week summer camp. I was all by myself, nervous, and struggling to understand Dominican Spanish, but this experience was definitely the most impactful. I not only learned a lot of Spanish, but I was pushed outside of my comfort zone and challenged in so many ways. I also made incredible friends that were also there volunteering, and was able to network within the non-profit world. I even learned how to surf!
The most influential professor I’ve had is definitely Profe Myers. If it wasn’t for her, I would have never gone to the Dominican Republic this summer. It was thanks to her connections that I was able to stay and work with the DREAM Project. She made our trip to the Dominican Republic so fun and impactful—her knowledge and passion for the country, its language, and people is inspiring!