{"id":6635,"date":"2025-03-07T14:06:18","date_gmt":"2025-03-07T14:06:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/global\/?page_id=6635"},"modified":"2025-03-07T14:09:18","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T14:09:18","slug":"jake-andrichuk","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/global\/connect\/student-stories\/semester-stories\/jake-andrichuk\/","title":{"rendered":"Jake Andrichuk"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n
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Jake and a friend pose while studying abroad in Argentina.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Q: Why did you choose to study abroad?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A:<\/strong> Well, going abroad is a graduation requirement for International Studies, but I also think I always wanted to go abroad. My dad has been a teacher all his life and he would always take kids to Costa Rica or Peru for a week or two right before they started high school. I thought the international experience was important to gain perspective and understand just how big the world is outside of this sort of United States bubble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What is one of your favorite memories from studying abroad?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A:<\/strong> I think my favorite memory from abroad was of one of my trips within the country. We were road tripping through Northwestern Argentina in early October. The region is super diverse, we would drive through desert mountains, over salt flats, and into lush jungles all in one day. On our fourth night of the trip we drove into this tiny little mountain community in El Parque Nacional Calilegua, called Santa Ana. The town is one of 10 communities that still live in the mountain jungle and is home to a large population of Mayan ancestry. I found this hostel for the eight of us on the website for the Argentine Ministry of Rural Tourism and sent the owner a message on WhatsApp to reserve, so I wasn\u2019t really sure what we were walking into. As we pull into the town, there is not a single other car in sight, just donkeys all over the road. After we\u2019ve driven around a little bit we find our hostel, which is really just a guest house connected to this man\u2019s main home. He runs the town\u2019s comedor<\/em>, or cafeteria, so a few hours later he brings us dinner and as we get to know him a little bit more, it comes out that he has self taught himself how to play all these instruments. As we voice our impress he offers to play and runs out the door to get his keyboard and guitar. Somehow as the night goes on he is still playing and singing with us, we gave him a glass of Fernet which is this Argentine liquor that you usually have with Coke, and we\u2019re dancing and singing. Eventually, he packs up and some of us go outside to look at the stars. My friends and I are talking outside, and he comes back out and starts chatting with us. He shared all these stories of his grandmother, who still speaks the native Mayan language, the towns relationship with the Earth and way of life, he showed us pictures and videos of them shooting a jaguar out of a tree and a picture of it tied up on a spit. It was clear that everyone there lived very different lives, our two Renault rental cars surrounded by donkeys in the driveway. But at the same time, this was probably one of the kindest men I had ever met, he had cooked us an incredible meal, shared his music and culture with us. I don\u2019t know what lesson came out of it really, I\u2019m sure it taught me something, but that was definitely my favorite memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Q: Where were you able to travel during your time abroad? What were some of your favorite things about your host city?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A:<\/strong> I loved<\/em> Buenos Aires. We did travel a good bit, but the majority of our time was spent in the city. There’s something about being in a big city like Buenos Aires that reminds you of this idea of society and community. There is nothing in the city that is just yours, you share all these spaces, the bus, the sidewalk, the train, the parks, with millions of other people, and as a result the city gives you all these places and opportunities to spend time with them. I felt like every day and every night someone would text about something they heard about or something their friend was doing, and we would just go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: How do you think studying abroad contributed to your future career goals and\/or academics?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A:<\/strong> The language immersion aspect to me seems obvious. I went with a pretty foundational understanding of Spanish and now I feel confident speaking it on a conversational level. I think that\u2019s pretty huge. I also just think that having to navigate this new country and language and culture gave me so much<\/em> trust in myself and my thoughts and intuition. I think in many respects confidence is built on a foundation of experience and this was one that added a ton to my understanding of myself, and others.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Q: What is a challenge you faced while abroad and how did you overcome it?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A:<\/strong> I would say just getting over the initial culture shock and adjustment was the hardest part. For the first 3-4 weeks I wanted to go home\/I didn\u2019t really feel like international travel was for me. I missed my friends, my family, my car, my grocery stores. But I just kind of trusted the process and I kept telling myself like, there\u2019s only 20 more weekends until I can go home. They call it \u201ctrusting the process\u201d for a reason I suppose. About two weeks later I felt super close with my friends, we had a great network of friends and classmates that we would often spend time with. I think when it comes to experiences like studying abroad, you might have to sacrifice a little bit of your comfort sometimes, push yourself outside of your zone. But you would be how quickly your zone expands, and you regain that feeling of comfort, you just need to be okay having those maybe not so fun feelings for a couple of weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What advice do you have for future study abroad students?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A:<\/strong> Everyone on your program is nervous and uncomfortable and feels scared. Don\u2019t forget to have fun. Say yes when someone asks you to do something, propose activities in the group-chat, at the very least, ask if anyone wants to grab a drink. I know it can feel scary to be the one initiating, but there is a lot of power in that! Use this time to push yourself, explore the kind of person you want to be and the kinds of people you want in your life!<\/p>\n\n\n

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