From July 6, 2006 to August 10, 2006, my colleague Kellan Morgan and I studied abroad in the city of El Sauce, Nicaragua for graduate credit through SUNY Geneseo. However, “study” abroad cannot properly explain what we did. Our stay was part of a larger continuing project at Geneseo with one main goal in mind: the sustainable modern economic development of the city of El Sauce. Our first role at the initial stage of the project was to improve education in the city by teaching free courses in English and Business Administration. I taught two business courses to forty students, ranging from age fifteen to forty, for four weeks with the help of an interpreter. When teaching, I applied my four years of business management and economics education at Geneseo into the curriculum.
Our second more important role was to institutionalize the study abroad program to make it as easy as possible to bring more Geneseo students to teach in the future. This involved locating a classroom, interested students, lodging, supplies, transportation, networking contacts, meal plans, and establishing a physical office for the program. Our tasks were daunting considering that we were the first Geneseo students sent to El Sauce. Meanwhile, living in a tropical climate where electricity and running water were available half of the time was humbling. Teaching my students was the most fulfilling work I have done in my life thus far. When I first arrived in Nicaragua I wondered if I had made the right decision in coming. However, by the time I left El Sauce I was sad to leave and I wished that I could have stayed longer.
In the week before departing for law school in fall of 2006, I co-authored a fifty page paper which explained our research findings, suggested solutions for economic and social improvement, and made recommendations for establishing an externship/study abroad program at Geneseo. The day before my first law school class, Kellan Morgan and I presented our findings to the President of Geneseo, the provost, the dean of the business school, the director of study abroad programs, several professors from different departments, and members of the local community. The future of the program rested squarely on our shoulders. We stressed, first and foremost, how important the program was to the well-being of El Sauce, and secondly, how important it was for future Geneseo students to experience international “service learning” before entering the workplace. Then we urged the administration to fund the project long into the future. My trip to Nicaragua solidified my interest in studying law.
The experience of juggling so many tasks in a foreign environment made me an attractive candidate to law school. In addition, the experience bolstered my confidence in taking on new tasks in law school and assists in my career as an attorney today.
Highlights:
· Playing soccer and baseball with the local niños:
· Establishing Geneseo’s first office at the Governor’s building, and interacting with the Governor of El Sauce:
· Awards assembly for students:
· Visiting one of Nicaragua’s beautiful sites, Laguna De Apoyo:
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