{"id":26260,"date":"2020-11-05T11:55:18","date_gmt":"2020-11-05T15:55:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insagrado.sagrado.edu\/?p=26260"},"modified":"2020-11-05T11:55:19","modified_gmt":"2020-11-05T15:55:19","slug":"cassandra-vega-and-her-study-abroad-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insagrado.sagrado.edu\/en\/cassandra-vega-and-her-study-abroad-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Cassandra Vega and her Study Abroad Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For this Sagrado Alumna and Sagrado Careers manager, everything she experienced while studying abroad translated into personal growth.<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Cassandra Vega (photo supplied)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

By the Internationalization and Intercollegiate Relations Office<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s so much talk about the personal and professional development experienced by students who choose to study abroad. For Cassandra Vega, a Sagrado<\/a> graduate and senior manager of Sagrado Careers<\/a>, her study abroad experiences translated into growth, the ability to see beyond in situations, and a vast network of contacts around the world.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During her undergraduate years, Cassandra pursued every international opportunity that came her way, beginning with the Cordova and Fern\u00f3s Internship<\/a> in Washington, D.C., specialized in international marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat was my first experience living alone and doing everything on my own. It was exciting to know that I was able to solve everything, the good and the bad, to see how I spent my time, where I ate, how I used the funds that I had designated for each week. That independence gave me a lot of strength and made me understand that the decisions I made would be for my personal, social, or academic benefit,\u201d she recalled.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Since she was aware that the skills and abilities about to be in demand in the future required a higher level of competence, Cassandra embarked on an international trip<\/strong> shortly after her experience in Washington, D.C., which focused on humanistic studies and took her to 12 different European countries<\/strong>. \u201cI knew there was a way to explore what I was seeing in theory in the classroom: by living it,\u201d she said, while acknowledging that living on a small island can limit our view of the world and the way we consume and interpret information. \u201cWe live in a globalized world. That is no longer just a topic of conversation, it is a reality,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That reality was unmistakable during Cassandra\u2019s third study abroad trip. She was selected for the Bot\u00edn Foundation<\/a> scholarship and represented Puerto Rico, along with 40 young people from different Latin American countries, during a semester in Madrid, Spain.<\/strong> The group would discuss socio-political issues, economics, and European influence on Latin America, and it was precisely the plurality of opinions on any issue that helped her understand who she was in the world.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot only was I the only Puerto Rican, but also the only person from the Caribbean. That, although I appreciate Latinos\u2019 shared history, taught me to embrace cultural diversity and opened my mind in a way that was beyond compare,\u201d she enthused. \u201cIn one of my trips to another continent, I found myself looking up at the sky and realizing that we didn\u2019t see the same stars. I remembered that, back in grade school, I had learned the difference between the hemispheres, but having lived it and actually observed it is an experience that no one can take away from me\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortunately, all of Cassandra\u2019s amplified knowledge pays off in her career and is transmitted to the students she has an impact on through Sagrado\u2019s Center for Professional Experiences, known as Sagrado Careers.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In summary, some of the skills strengthened through the opportunities that the Office of Internationalization and Intercollegiate Relations<\/a> (OIRI, Spanish acronym) provides include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n