Send Olivia to Study Abroad in Brazil

Olivia VanDamme Start Date: Apr 11, 2014 - End Date: Jun 16, 2014
  • Study/Degree Abroad
  • Educational/Research Trip
  • Cultural Exchange
  • Florianopolis, Brazil

My Travel Story

by: Olivia VanDamme Start Date: Apr 11, 2014 - End Date: Jun 16, 2014
  • Study/Degree Abroad
  • Educational/Research Trip
  • Cultural Exchange
Studying abroad in Florianopolis, Brazil for five weeks in the summer of 2014 means pursuing a dream, going out of my comfort zone, and being the adventurous, fearless woman I aspire to be; it means developing my academic career by allowing me to apply all of the lectures, activities, essays and tests from three years of studying Geography, Latin American Studies, and Portuguese, in the real world. I wish to study abroad to study the people, culture, language, physical geography, action sports, and the Brazilian way of life I have only read about, watched videos on, or have been taught. I was inspired to study in Brazil originally in 2011 as a freshman at the University of Oregon. I had to choose a foreign language to study for two years, I know Spanish, and I have always been drawn to Latin America so I decided to learn the other language spoken in one of the largest countries of South America- Brazilian Portuguese. After my first term of learning the alphabet, numbers, and basic verb conjugations, I became captivated with the language and the Lusophone culture. My teacher Bene Santos from Sao Paulo was energetic, passionate, and an excellent language teacher. She loves her home country, keeps Brazilian traditions alive in Eugene, Oregon, and has a charisma that is contagious. Her tales of Brazil made many of her students, including me, set a goal to study abroad in Brazil.
          While I was a student at Oregon my Geography professor Katie Meehan invited me to join her, other students, her colleagues as well as other professors from the universities of Stanford, University of Arizona, and Colorado State to join on a field research project in summer 2014 in the Brazilian Amazon to study climate change and deforestation. This was another inspiration for my reason to study abroad in Brazil, specifically in the field of human geography to research how Brazilians are affected by deforestation and various environmental issues. Meehan wrote a proposal and applied for a grant, but unfortunately the grant request was denied and that opportunity was closed.
     My program is through USAC, and is a faculty- led study abroad led by my professor of geography and Latin American Studies at Chico State, Jacque Chase. She has been my mentor and advisor in the department since I arrived at Chico. Jacque is an inspiration for Brazil because of the research she has done on soybeans and economic geography. I would be taking her three unit Economic Geography class which counts towards my upper division requirement for the Human Geography major. I would also take a three unit Portuguese language class to finish my language requirement for my second major in Latin American Studies. It is a five week program with a few field trips included, the World Cup taking place, surfing school, and living with a host family. I really enjoy surfing, and this would be another dream accomplished, to surf in Florianopolis, a hub for major surfing competitions, big waves, and an amazing surfing culture.
     I hope to gain more experience abroad, time to soak in all of moments and capture them on my Canon camera, documenting through film and photography Through this experience I will be able to practice what it means to be a human geographer, a researcher of how humans interact with their environment. My dream is to apply for a Fulbright scholarship in conjunction with National Geographic after receiving my bachelors, applying for the Peace Corps, or applying for a master’s program. This coursework will help me increase my spatial knowledge and understanding of the world as a human geographer, and help me continue a life of adventure and travel I have dreamed of since I was a little girl asking my father questions about photos I saw in National Geographic magazines. Feeling the white sand between my toes, the salty breeze of humid Brazilian air, being stimulated in the classroom, observing peoples interactions with their environments, conducting research on environmental issues, and being with one of my role models in academia, Jacque Chase is everything I have aspired to do, and I know if given this opportunity, Brazil will give me a life changing experience I cannot even fathom as I sit in Chico, California filled with anticipation, excitement, and fearlessness.
  • Florianopolis, Brazil

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