Studying Abroad + The Power of Art
I was moving to another country, staying with a new family, and possibly the scariest of all: taking a full course load in a foreign language. As a native English speaker, I always had a huge advantage in US school systems, and I was used to achieving perfect understanding and perfect scores. I expected to be overwhelmed in during my study abroad and was unsure how I was going to adjust. However, I had neglected to consider one huge factor that came to my aid during my time at UPAEP in Puebla, Mexico: that I was taking all art classes.
Visual art is a language that crosses other boundaries. During my anatomical drawing class, I sketched many of my peers. The representation of themselves was impactful. By drawing their portraits in a realistic way, I was showing them how I saw their beauty, by valuing the details of their face that made them individuals. As the class progressed, some of my peers in that class became really good friends to me. It did not matter that I was completely unable to understand the dramatic icebreaker game we were playing on the first day of class, or took extra time to understand each assignment, and that I couldn’t really join in on many casual conversations. My visual language was stronger than my spoken one.
I found that typography was its own language inside of visual art. That class was the easiest for me to understand by far. Even though we were studying brands and advertising in Spanish, I was able to understand what the type was communicating to the same degree as any of my Spanish speaking peers. I was fascinated to discover that serifs often give an elegant and classic look, while san serifs are more modern and sleek. These basic facts about fonts translate to whatever written language is using the font. I found that incredible. Although my professor may not have been able to understand my portrait zine that had captions in English, I am sure the handwritten statements communicated to him that it was a deeply personal work.
The fact that my work was based around art is what allowed me to be successful during my study abroad semester. I did improve on my Spanish speaking, and toward the end of the semester I was able to communicate in Spanish in a way that I had never expected to be able to. But I also came to understand that learning a language by immersion is one of the most difficult endeavors one can pursue in their adult lives, and it requires a high level of gentleness toward the self, and the ability to forgive oneself for the inevitable mistakes one makes. As I struggled to make my voice heard in a language that was foreign to me, art stayed by my side as a constant reminder that I will always be able to express myself visually.
