Work & Travel USA Alumni Video Contest Semifinalist: Florencia Studer

In October, we asked our alumni to piece together their amazing Work & Travel USA experiences through video.  We were interested in learning more about what they took away from their time in the U.S. The response we received was outstanding and now we want to share it with you! 

Below you can read about one of our Work & Travel USA Alum Video Contest finalists, Florencia! Make sure to scroll to the bottom to watch Flor's video entry!

By Florencia Studer, CIEE Work & Travel USA 2018 Participant

Hello, my name is Florencia Studer and I am from a beautiful island called Tierra del Fuego in Argentina. I was born in Rio Grande City, which gives people seventeen-hour days during summer and seven-hour days during winter. The most specials gifts the island gave me are its unimaginable and mind-blowing skies. Since I was young, I have been profoundly connected to nature and it is thanks to her that my desire to travel the world was born.  There had always been something that prevented this idea from happening until I decided to make this dream come true. I wanted to feel how it would be to meet with the life I want to live - to feel the world as my home, no matter which land embraces me. When I first stepped off the plane, my mind was filled with uncertainties and I felt that as the most pleasant feeling. I realized that we actually live in a bubble from which is very difficult to get out from. But if you succeed in that, you can discover the beauty of diversity. Everything is new, people, places, and cultures. None of them are better nor worse, just different. 

This experience means a lot to me, not only professionally, but also personally. In the first place, it made me realize that I could do whatever I proposed myself to. Nothing is impossible and to give the best of you in every sphere of life is the best way to learn. In the second place, I rediscovered myself and reinforced the ideas that life is lived the way each person dares to live. I understood that borders only exist in our minds if we allow them to. I met people from all over the world, with whom I exchanged culture, knowledge and world views. I challenged myself to do something new every day and to prevent routine to catch me. I set my mind to discover a new place every time I could. I travelled as much as it was possible. As you can see in this video, you can reach places you never thought possible. And I strongly recommend understanding that quantity is not quality. I decided to leave a trace in every person I met, no matter how small it could be, and to learn something new from her or him.

 Although the best memories are stored in our mind, I tried to do my best to create this video to share with you and to have something tangible in the future to bring back those experiences. I wish I could motivate others to leave their comfort zone and to help them realize that there is an alternative way of living. To live feeling every moment, enjoying every glance, smell, texture, landscape, image, and people. To live feeling everything. Now is your time, nothing is lost by trying.

Make sure to check the Exchanges Blog regularly to read about our other video contest finalists!

For more information on the CIEE Work & Travel USA program, please visit our website.