Study Abroad Orientation

On Friday, I attended IU's pre-departure study abroad orientation.  The goal of this program was to provide information about what we should expect on the trip and how to best prepare ourselves.  The first hour was for everyone going abroad in the fall and covered more basic policies, like how long it will take for credits to show up and how to communicate with academic advisors from out of the country.

The second hour is where it got really interesting.  Everyone broke out into different program groups, but all students going to Argentina, the Dominican Republic, and Chile were put together.  (It appeared that the Peru and Ecuador students were in a separate room, but I'm not sure why.)  There were probably 12 students in the room, as well as two students who studied abroad in Chile and Argentina before.  

My new friend Tyler, the CIEE representative for Indiana, led our session.​  I met Tyler a few weeks earlier when I was the only participant in a session about study abroad programs in Brazil and Portugal, and he remembered me when I arrived.  He went over basic items, and he told us that we will learn final flight information and other details soon.  He also told us that we need to pull out everything we plan to pack and then put half of it back, essentially implying that we will bring too much clothing.  This is a warning I may or may not heed.

​The most difficult part of the whole orientation process was the questions people chose to ask.  There's a saying that there are no stupid questions/a stupid question is a question you don't ask, but anyone who says this has never attended a study abroad orientation.  As was the case on my Israel trip, people seem to forget that the places to which we are traveling are real places with most of the essential items you will need.  Likewise, people also forget that some of their questions might be related to personal issues that the group does not, nor should not, hear about.  One girl asked who would pay for her return flight if she were deported from Argentina.  Tyler, poor guy, looked dumbfounded and said that he doesn't know anyone who has been deported, so he couldn't answer her question.  Another girl, perhaps confused about how to book her flight, asked, "How do I get a flight?"  Tyler spent a great deal of time trying to figure out what her question actually was.

After we finished, I talked with the student who had studied in Buenos Aires the year before.  She gave me some great tips about housing and life in a big city, and I was very grateful to have gotten her perspective.  ​

Go Learn Something Today

Yesterday in my Research Methods class, we talked about data visualization.  While this might sound dry and boring, the way we view data and information is actually very cool.  ​We're in an era of Big Data (industry term, not mine), in which our increasingly digitized and connected world creates a deluge of data.  This data is being used to improve city services, ​make programs Netflix users will love, and so much more.  

However, one of the problems with all this data is how to present it in a way that people can understand.  How do we show what one billion dollars really looks like?  How do we ​learn which country really has the most soldiers?  In class, we watched a Ted Talk in which David McCandless, a self-described data journalist, explained how we can use visuals and graphics to show data in ways that make it easier for people to understand. And when McCandless explained how he did it, I understood it!  

​Colours In Culture

​What makes this even cooler is that he puts his visualizations online where anyone can access and, in some cases, even manipulate them.  His website is informationisbeautiful.net, and I highly recommend you take a look at some of what he has produced.  Today I looked at how many cds or music sales an artist would have to make to earn a US monthly minimum wage, learned who was using Twitter, and discovered that it's probably not worth my energy to take Calcium or Vitamin C supplements.  McCandless frequently updates the site, so check back often to see what else he is working on next.  

Scheduling with Moving Pieces

Today I met with my study abroad advisor to work on a plan for the classes I will take when I study abroad in the fall.  I had already met with the Spanish/Portuguese and International Studies advisors who gave me some advice.  However, I hoped that the study abroad person could shed some more light on the situation.

​Basically, the bottom line is that I will be making up a schedule once I get there.  IU requires that I take 15 credits while in Buenos Aires, which seems like a high number given that a full time student in Bloomington only needs to take 12.  There are certain classes that I have to take--I need a Spanish language class, two classes at the CIEE site, and another two at a local university.  It didn't seem like many classes had been pre-equated, which means that a student before me has already done the work of figuring out which class at IU it corresponds to for credit.  

All of this makes me a little concerned.  My study abroad advisor made it seem like getting the classes I need wouldn't be a problem, but I am worried that I am going to be messing around getting the credits figured out next spring.  ​Uncertainty stresses me out the most, and so knowing that I am going to show up in Buenos Aires and have to figure this all out again is not a source of comfort.