Student Perspectives: Reflections on Studying Abroad
by Laura Shoaps W
hen I applied to law school, I knew I wanted to study international hu- man rights law. After the first year of foundational courses and exten-
sive exposure to the Socratic method, I felt a bit disconnected from the path I was hoping to carve out for myself. I was eager to immerse myself in the field that brought me to law school in the first place, so I decided to study abroad. Fortunately, I was able to do this in the incredibly beautiful coun- try of Costa Rica. What better place to learn about the Inter-American human rights system than at the Inter-American Institute of Humans Rights in San Jose?
Most importantly for me, studying abroad provid- ed me with meaningful on-the-ground experience that I could not have gained in the classroom. Dur- ing our first week, we went on a field trip to meet with SITRAP, a labor union focused on agricultural workers’ rights. They spoke to us about the advo- cacy support they provide and about the challeng- es facing agricultural workers on pineapple planta- tions. Then we were able to visit the plantations and talk with some of the workers, who told us about the harassment they had faced for standing up for their rights. This trip left quite an impression on me. I remember coming back to my homestay afterward and writing in my journal about how this visit had affected me.
During my study abroad, I also took several inter- national human rights classes for academic credit. Classes were held at both the Human Rights In- stitute and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. We spent time with attorneys working at the Court, and some of them actually taught our lessons. One of my favorite activities was simu- lating our own hearing of alleged human rights
violations at the Court. Putting our knowledge to use in a place where so many real violations are addressed made the experience all the more poi- gnant.
I also really enjoyed the cultural component of studying abroad. I hadn’t traveled international very much before going to Costa Rica, and I took every opportunity to soak up the experience of being in a new country. I couldn’t get over all the vibrant colors and delicious food, and I loved practicing my Spanish skills. I had taken four years of Span- ish in high school but hadn’t had an opportunity to truly put it to the test. In addition to using Spanish around the city, I spent most of my time living in a homestay with my “Mama Tica,” or Costa Rican house-mom, who only spoke Spanish. While we took human rights classes in the morning, our afternoons were spent taking Spanish classes at the Costa Rican Language Academy. I found the classes to be particularly useful because the pro- fessors infused legal vocabulary into our lessons. I also took a salsa class there for the first time!
Studying abroad gave me the opportunity to con- nect with other people interested in international human rights law. We had about a dozen students in the group, and we all hit it off. Over the weekend we planned group trips together, exploring rainfor- ests in Manuel Antonio, the beautiful beaches of Puerto Viejo, and cloud forests in La Fortuna. I’m still friends with everyone from the trip and even ended up falling in love with one of them! Meeting like-minded students and professors was a bless- ing even after leaving Costa Rica. Many individu- als from the trip are living in California, so when I moved to California after graduating from Lewis & Clark Law School in Oregon, I felt an instant sense of community,
ILSA Quarterly » volume 23 » issue 2 » December 2014
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