Finding Comfort During My First Week: Study Abroad in Argentina
As a first-generation student, I am familiar with the crossroad of staying within the comfort of home and diving into the unknown. About three years ago, I moved from Texas to Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, for college. It was an equally exhilarating and daunting opportunity. As I was deciding whether to study abroad, I found myself at that crossroad again. Exploring a new city and country was exciting, especially the possibility of meeting other students, though if I went abroad, I would have to start from scratch all over again. I decided to go to continue expanding my horizons and studies.
My first week in Buenos Aires stirred up anxious feelings from when I first arrived in Pennsylvania for college. I suddenly had to learn new things, ranging from slang for transportation to where to find the IFSA office downtown to memorizing lots of new faces. When I moved away for college, I found if I looked past the obvious differences, I found similarities between new surroundings and the comfort zone of home. Now in another continent, I am finding small nods to my life before study abroad.
At my homestay, I was thrilled to find a poster above my bed from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. One reason I traveled was to take advantage art history classes at Buenos Aires universities and earn credit for my art history minor. The poster in my room helped me feel focused and centered, instantly affirming of one of my motivations to study here.
On my way to orientation, I stumbled upon the Obelisk in downtown Buenos Aires. It is almost 68 meters tall and in the middle of the widest avenue in the world. The Obelisk reminded me of the Washington Monument in D.C., where I spent several summers working as a component of my political science major. Like the Washington Monument, the Obelisk has become a comforting landmark in a new city. During orientation, I met students like me. Some were from the Philadelphia area near Bryn Mawr, and it felt serendipitous to connect with them.
Once classes began, the Bondi, the bus from Torcuato Di Tella University became an important idiosyncrasy. On the first day of school, I took the bus, which like the Blue Bus I ride in the U.S., takes area students to campus. It was easier to start school with a routine I knew, and it opened up the opportunity to meet even more students.
Again, I’m far from home. But the experience of moving across the country as a first-generation college student taught me to manage many facets of my life, from tough academics to finding friends and chosen family. I have seen how the moments that tested my resilience most have helped my transition in Buenos Aires. I am leaning on the same mentality of resistance that pushed me during my first year of college to become comfortable with my new surroundings. It helps me stay strong when I experience bumps in the road, such as automatically responding in English or missing the bus.
The interweaving threads from my life in the U.S. and my time in Buenos Aires have begun to show me something new. I can’t stress enough how important it has been for me to be flexible and create connections with a new place abroad. It has made realizing dreams, like going to college and studying abroad, become possible.
Sarah Elizabeth Fernandez | Bryn Mawr College | IFSA Argentine Universities Program | Spring 2025