Political science and international relations double major sophomore Cade Reed describes his life-changing experience studying abroad in Ecuador. While there, he immersed himself in a new culture and formed friendships with those who he taught (courtesy of cade reed).
Political science and international relations double major sophomore Cade Reed studied abroad in Ecuador, as he plans to pursue a career one day as an immigration attorney. He embarked on this experience after working with the Study Abroad Office, which inspired him to want to become an intern for the 2019-2020 school year.
As a current sophomore, Reed chose to take advantage of this experience during his freshman year in order to give himself a better feel for his intended career path, to increase the pace of completing his graduation requirements and to expose himself to another culture that is quite the opposite of that in the United States.
“Since I aspire to be an immigration attorney in the future, primarily dealing with assisting Latin-American based immigrants with gaining the proper documentation to settle down in the United States, I thought that Ecuador would be a perfect study abroad experience,” Reed said. “The immigration policies and acts in place are unjust and unfair to people who want to start a new life … I never felt unsafe [in Ecuador] nor did I ever feel scrutinized for being an American citizen … The double standards with immigration within the United States government are improper and not solving anything.”
While in Ecuador, Reed had the opportunity to take a course where he worked with a law firm in order to help immigrants from Latin America gain their visas.
“I even took a class in Ecuador called ‘Negocios de Latin America,’” Reed said. “[This class] was based heavily around me creating my own business concept for my future aspirations.”
Reflecting on his experience in Ecuador, he describes his most memorable experience. He says it occurred during one of his last weeks there when he had the opportunity to speak with immigrants from all over Latin America. Many of the immigrants were from Chile, Columbia and Venezuela.
“This was truly an eye-opening experience for me, because … I have never experienced communicating with an immigrant before. Given the conversation I had with all of the immigrants … I felt like they should know about the politics and unstableness of the American government,” Reed said. “I was astonished when they all told me that they know very little about Trump and his politics … They had no intention of going to the United States. They were happy in Ecuador. They had a stable job, happy family, rights and property.”
In addition to his life-changing experience talking to immigrants, Reed had the opportunity to foster friendships with children while on his trip. Specifically, he worked with Ecuadorian children in a local church every day, teaching them the English language. Interestingly, despite the age gaps among the children, they all had the same level of English.
“I was offered an opportunity to teach Ecuadorian children English at a local church from 3-5 p.m. every day … I took the opportunity and actually fall in love with these kids. Their ages ranged from six to 14 and it was like that because they were all at the same level of English,” Reed said. “The kids are ranked and placed in classes with other kids of the same level and not by age. Nevertheless, I loved the kids and I saw them every day for six weeks [during] my first months in Ecuador.”
Another one of the courses Reed had the opportunity to take, Academia Latino Americana de Español, Indigenous Cultures, included trips to different museums and historical places. These adventures for Reed, and for other international students too, were especially significant in that he gained greater insight of Ecuadorian culture and history. For the first time, he experienced street vending, cultural music and witnessed the legalization of same-sex marriage.
“[The course I took] … helped me gain more knowledge about Ecuador and the history surrounding each and every culture,” Reed said. “I have [also] never experienced simple culture-norms such as people selling fruit and other items in the streets. Nor have I ever encountered relying on the public transportation options that Ecuador provided. Things that we all take for granted is what Ecuador thrives on.”
As a result of his incredible experience, Reed encourages that all students study abroad. He believes that doing so is important to expose oneself to other cultures as well as to experience a different lifestyle. In later years, he plans to return in order to intern at a law firm.
“I would without a doubt encourage every student at Geneseo to study abroad. Of course, my bias is towards going to Ecuador, but any study abroad experience is worth everything,” Reed said. “I believe that Ecuador was a huge eye-opener for me. I saw so many things that I am not used to, little things such as public buses, volcanos, dogs in the street, poverty and the food.”