By Andrea Carolina Rodriguez Cortes

English Language Program

Fall 2022

Since I was a child, I’ve always wanted to live abroad. I’ve always wanted to learn to speak different languages. I’ve always wanted to know about different cultures. My first experience living abroad was at the age of 10 when my parents decided to move from Cali, Colombia, the city that I am from, to Volcan, Panama. This little town is known for its peaceful atmosphere, and many foreigners, mostly from the United States and Germany, live there. I remember going to public places and trying to communicate with kids at my age in English. I didn’t speak that much, but I was able to understand a lot because my mom used to talk to me in English. I felt extremely happy when I started making friends and speaking in another language. Unfortunately, we decided to move back to Cali for various reasons, one of which was that we missed our family and friends and weren’t used to living in a small town after spending our entire lives in big cities.

Years later, when I graduated from high school, I decided to choose a career related to languages. My lifelong ambition has been to learn five languages, and I speak three already (English, Spanish, and French). I decided to pursue a career in foreign languages at the University of Santiago de Cali. While I was studying at the university, I worked as an English teacher in a school and as a French teacher in another institute. As my graduation date approached, I  was resolved that once I completed my study, I would look an opportunity to live abroad. I didn’t want to live in Colombia anymore; I wanted to know the world; I wanted to know other cultures; I wanted to improve my English; I wanted to improve my French, and I wanted to have that cultural experience living abroad. I decided to look for options and I found an au pair program in the US. After talking to my parents, I applied to the au pair program, which is how I ended up living here.

When I started looking for families in the au pair program, I found a family that was in Pittsburgh. To be completely honest, I’d never heard of Pittsburgh before as it’s not as popular as New York, Miami, San Francisco, or Chicago. When I decided to come here, people asked me, “Why Pittsburgh?” I looked up the city and discovered that it had many good universities and a Latino population that wasn’t very large, so I could immerse myself in the language, which was perfect. Yes!!  Pittsburgh was the city that I was looking for. Finally, I graduated from the university in December 2019 and moved to the United States in February 2020.  I was living a dream. I had previously visited the United States on vacation in New York, but I didn’t practice English that much. I mostly spoke Spanish, so coming to a city where I could practice English was ideal. The first two weeks were great; everything was going well for me; everything was beautiful—the buildings, the city, speaking English every single day, going shopping—I was experiencing my dream cultural immersion. Unfortunately, two weeks after the lockdown began, I spent several months experiencing the opposite. After the lockdown was over, I began to travel, visiting New York, Los Angeles, Malibu, Santa Monica, and Myrtle Beach from June to December 2020. I was happy again.

When I finished my program as an au pair in February 2022, I decided that I wanted to study in the US, so I applied for a student visa at Chatham, and I was accepted into the English Language Program. I’ve learned a lot about grammar, vocabulary, composition, and communication. My goal is to be accepted into a graduate program in international relations, and I believe that was a good choice to apply to the ELP program at Chatham. So far, it has been great living here. I love the city. Still, when I meet a new person and they know that I am from Colombia, they ask me, “Why did you choose Pittsburgh to live in?” I just said that it was one of the best decisions that I have made. Why Pittsburgh? Because I love practicing the language every day. Why Pittsburgh? Because it isn’t that small or big, which makes it perfect. Why Pittsburgh? Because I love having the four seasons here, seeing the bridges, and enjoying its old infrastructure. Why Pittsburgh? Because I love the Steelers, even though I am still learning about football. Why Pittsburgh? Because this city has opened its doors to me, and I feel so comfortable living here. Why Pittsburgh? Because I have gained cultural knowledge living here, and I wouldn’t change it to live somewhere else. Why Pittsburgh? Because it is the first city where I have lived abroad by myself, and I am planning to stay. If I had to pick a city for cultural immersion again, I would pick Pittsburgh again.

By Andrea Quintero

English Language Program

Fall 2022

Life hasn’t been easy since I arrived in the United States. I came here with my dreams in mind, thinking that everything was going to be a perfect fairytale, but it was also my first time facing the world by myself in a completely different way. The truth is that I had never had to deal with adulthood on my own before coming here. Everything involving adult responsibilities would make me terrified, so I would always dream my way out of everything. Three weeks after my arrival, the pandemic happened. It was hard at first. I didn’t know what to do since I was new here, so having to live with an American host family while being in lockdown under a pandemic instead of living with my own family wouldn’t have been my first choice. I was so terrified that I considered leaving. At the same time, it was exciting, so I stayed. The best part of it all is that never would I have imagined that it was going to be my experience in the United States that would make me become the realistic dreamer that I am now.

Everyone that knows me knows that I’ve always wanted to be in the United States and speak English all day long. In fact, my friends and I would always joke about me being best friends with the Kardashians and being extremely successful in Hollywood, since I’m known for being an acting, music and makeup enthusiast. When I first arrived, I was a different person. I was excited and nervous about my future. (Well, that hasn’t changed much). I used to be more of a dreamer. I used to believe that everything was going to be like a fairytale. Turns out that life isn’t a fairytale, and I found that out the hard way. For a person like me, full of dreams and hopes, it was hard to face reality since no one taught me how to be realistic when I was younger.

I believe that childhood is an important part of what makes you who you are. It is true that you have the choice to change and to decide whether you want to keep making the same choices and mistakes or if you want to turn your life around, but it is hard to completely change if you’ve been raised a certain way. My story hasn’t been easy- nobody’s story is easy- but I can only speak for myself. The reason why I think I’m a dreamer is because in my childhood I needed to escape from my reality. One of the people who protected me from family traumas is my grandma. She encouraged me to think about another world and to use my imagination to ignore the pain of the violence happening just on the other side of the door. Thanks to that, I was able to travel in my imagination and to dream about being happy in a world that was violence free. I would also picture myself as an artist on a stage or in a movie set. That’s where I escaped the most. I don’t blame my mom or dad, and certainly not my siblings. I believe they are all victims of their stories and how they were raised. It’s just a vicious cycle. The priority that my parents gave me while growing up wasn’t much, so I had to learn most things about life for myself. Being here alone has been teaching me all about adulthood that I didn’t know. I truly love my parents; it just feels like I had to raise myself.

Since I arrived in the US, I found out that adulthood is interesting. One of my favorite parts has been learning to be independent. I’m learning how to take care of myself, pay bills, buy groceries, and all the things that adults do.  It isn’t always fun though. I miss when I didn’t have to worry about anything, but also the challenge is great because it shows me how capable I am of achieving things for and by myself. My perspective of life has changed. I have become more independent, responsible and patient. Now not only am I a dreamer still, but I’m also more realistic and analytical, which may help me to achieve my dreams in the most rational way possible. I can still picture myself following the arts and being successful, but it may be not as magical as I used to believe it would be. Being here and having learnt all that I have, I know that the climb is going to be hard (if it isn’t already) and that I might not make my dreams come true, but one thing I know for sure is that I made the right decision coming to the United States, a country that may allow me to achieve my dreams just by combining them with my reality.