Destinee Truluck
Destinee is a recipient of the Vira Heinz for Women in Global Leadership Scholarship, Destinee studied abroad in Guayaquil,Ecuador for a total of nine weeks. During her time in Ecuador Destinee used the opportunity to take on two courses and an internship, where she was able to delve into the Ecuadorian culture and better prepare herself for her future career. Destinee had an internship at a Public relations department, she was able to write press releases, design layouts, organize events, and put together employee trainings. Destinee also improved her spanish skills by taking an intermediate Spanish course. Destinee has greatly improved her Spanish since her first day in Ecuador. Throughout her time in Ecuador, she traveled to many cities and Villages, where she was able to expand her knowledge of the Country as a whole. Destinee resided with a host family while in Ecuador, She became close with the whole family especially their housekeeper Diana AKA “NaNa”, who cooked for her and showed her the way that the house functioned. In the near future she desires to return to Ecuador to finish her documentary and to volunteer at the children’s orphanage. By taking her Spanish course in Ecuador and completing the required internship for her school, she was able to finish her BA degree requirements and will be graduating in May 2019.
CEE Title: Aliens at Home
We used our CEE to explain the color barriers in each country. Being that Star went to a country full of people who looked like her so everyone automatically gravitated towards her rather than the other girls that she traveled with. We explained how in certain countries the people do not do things to be rude they are more so “Curious”. Even though we had experiences in Ecuador that weren’t all good, we were able to grow from it. Being able to adapt was definitely life changing. We also shared with the girls that not everyone is going to accept your differences easily. Another thing that we addressed was that it is much easier to make friends and be accepted if you come with an open mind. Tamia and I went chipper as ever to Ecuador. We are two very nice approachable girls so that was definitely one of the main reasons that we were able to make friends easily. People gravitated towards us wherever we went, especially when we were traveling with different groups. A point that I was strongly encouraging throughout the presentation was that in foreign countries where there are little too few people who looks like you, trying to blend in is in your nature. I addressed how Tamia and I never wanted to draw attention to ourselves, doing subtle things such as not speaking English in crowded places. There were times where we would go to shopping departments in Ecuador and everything would be fine until we started speaking English then everyone knew we were different. They were never doing those things with bad intentions they were more so curious and were watching our interactions.