“I don’t really know why I felt that I needed to choose last summer,” she says, a furrow to her brow and a slight smile on her lips. “I can’t remember what actually prompted that, but I was like ‘it needs to be this summer.’”
The “she” in question is Elizabeth Halbrooks, junior Spanish major. Halbrooks is a dedicated student who has experienced life in Argentina through Union’s study-abroad program. While there, she enjoyed time with her host family, attended classes from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., and wandered around her temporary home city of Buenos Aires.
“Part of the reason I actually chose to go to Argentina was because I knew no other Union students were going there,” Halbrooks says. “It’s not like I have some kind of prejudice against Union students. I happen to love pretty much everybody I know in the Spanish department. It was because I wanted to give myself an opportunity to be alone, I guess.”
By “alone”, she means “independent.” Traveling to another country is nerve wracking, especially when the native language is different from your own. However, Halbrooks’ desire to travel to Argentina was motivated by her wish to open her mind to new people, places, and friendships. In choosing to develop these relationships from the ground up, she was able to connect with her host family in an incredible way.
“My host mom, her name is Natalia, was very welcoming,” Halbrooks says. “She’s been hosting students for ten years, so she’s a pro at it.”
Halbrooks grins as she recalls the memories. “She would make meals for us, and we would all eat together for dinner. For breakfast, a lot of times, she had already eaten by the time I was eating but she would sit and we would just chat,” she says. “She would ask me about what we were learning in class, if I had any plans… I would tell her and she would be like ‘oh, don’t do that. You should go here.’”
Halbrooks quickly learns how to approach travel in a new country. While she advises not to focus on jumping from place to place, she encourages any potential study-abroad student to choose a city where they are motivated to learn the culture and walk the sidewalks. She advocates for the little things, such as hopping from store to store and spending time with fellow students.
She recounts how her fondest moments were with her American host siblings. “They were so funny,” she says. “They would drag me all over the place like ‘Elizabeth you’ve got to come do this. You have to come see this.’”
Even as she tells the story, she can’t help but laugh. “We went to one of the nearby towns after that that’s known for its nightlife, but we were looking for this karaoke bar that we’d been told was there by our Argentinean brother,” she says. “We couldn’t find it.”
Her stories are full of life and it is apparent that while she aimed to gain language experience through her travels, she also gained a love for the local culture. She agrees that the experience helped her continue developing her sense of adventure.
“It was a lot of us going into every single store or restaurant that was open and seeing what it was or getting strangers to take pictures of us in front of the signs,” she says.
While Halbrooks holds so many happy memories of this trip, there were moments of doubt amongst the many joys. As with any experience outside of the “Christian bubble”, she notes that there were times she had to be aware that the people around her did not hold to the same beliefs.
“You’re going to be surprised by the amount of culture shock that you receive from your fellow Americans that you’re living with. It was a constant battle for me,” Halbrooks says. “With friends I would make in class, it was like, how far can I participate with you?”
She continues and says, “It was a lot of having to be okay with telling people no and understanding that I’m not being rude by telling people that I don’t want to do x, y, z-thing. People who truly wanted to be my friend, and were worth being friends with were going to be okay with the fact that I wouldn’t go as far as they would.”
One fear she had was rooted in the desire not to be viewed as judgmental. “I was like ‘I promise, it doesn’t bother me that you’re doing this. Like, I don’t want you to feel judged by me,” she says. “I just don’t want to participate.’”
Her voice is somber as she says, “That sparked a lot of loneliness I think, and a lot of anxiety because I didn’t know how I was coming off, but I was pretty certain that I didn’t want to do those things.”
Halbrooks states with confidence that this lesson is one that she will carry with her after her time in Argentina. As Christians, these are the kinds of experiences God allows into our lives so we are better able to serve Him. While it might have been tough, Halbrooks seems to have moved in the right direction and is now making an impact in others.
“It created an initiative in her,” Anna Yadkowski, junior Christian studies major and roommate of Halbrooks, says. “Even seeing her expand her already existing role in Calvary, that’s been really cool. I watched her pretty early in the fall when we were doing neighborhood outreach, go up to Pastor Gary and say ‘hey, I want to be able to evangelize in Spanish, so let’s go neighborhood outreach in Spanish speaking communities.’”
Along with evangelizing with confidence in another language, Halbrooks has motivated those around her to take steps toward getting out of their own comfort zones.
“I wouldn’t have been able to go to Poland without her,” Yadkowski says. Now, I’m a lot more comfortable doing that and I’m about to go spend my summer in Poland. That wouldn’t have been possible if I didn’t have Elizabeth’s influence in that.”
Throughout this, Halbrooks is sure to point out how her confidence in the Spanish language has grown significantly. Where she used to classify herself as an intermediate level speaker, she now says that she has the practice and experience to express herself in most any way she chooses.
“Doesn’t mean that it wasn’t a rocky road to get there,” she says. “I would wake up some mornings and it would be like I would be in some kind of crisis. Like I would never be able to speak Spanish for real.”
Through the process of interacting with her professors, fellow students, and especially gaining repetition within her host home, Halbrooks feels well equipped to step out into the community and use her knowledge for others.
“It gave me so much confidence to be able to come back here and to advertise that I speak Spanish. I don’t mean that I’m perfect, I make all kinds of mistakes.” She smiles as she says, “But I’m now comfortable telling people, ‘I speak Spanish.’”
Loved reading this! And SO well written.