CU in
by Megan Coffman ’13
A
s long as I can remember, my dad has always thrown random
phrases fromother languages into conversation. Commands
in German, funny insults in Chinese, an expression in
pache — I grew up hearing them daily. He is not fluent in any
of these languages, but since he studied Spanish in high school,
he remembered those phrases best. Perhaps that is why I’ve always
had an interest in language, particularly in Spanish, and yearned to
experience other cultures and languages, to travel beyond the world
I’ve always known.
I studied in Seville, Spain, for both semesters of my junior
year. Spain is an incredibly diverse country with beautiful people
and history. I lived with a Spanish family the entire eight months
and remained a full-time student with classes at local universities
in Seville. I also had a professional internship for my major in
Technical and Professional Communication (TPC) at a local
marketing agency, where I designed social media and web content
in Spanish. I traveled to various Spanish cities as well as Morocco,
Venice, Florence, Rome, and Paris.
When I wasn’t traveling, I took a train to a Spanish church in
a nearby village and spent time with missionaries I met there. It
was a great blessing to experience the Spanish evangelical church,
witness the lives of missionaries in Spain, and serve during events
they hosted throughout the year. My eyes were opened to the
incredible beauty of the international church, and I have glimpsed
what it will be like to worship one day with “every nation, tribe,
people, and language” (Rev. 7:9).
I extended my time abroad by taking a May term class with
other TPC students. We spent two weeks in Strasbourg, France;
a weekend in Luxembourg; and a week in Paris. It was wonderful
to spend three weeks with Cedarville professors and students,
complete a required class, and experience another part of the
world. The cultural and language experience in a three-week
course abroad isn’t as extensive as a full semester, but these shorter
trips are definitely great for students whose majors may not allow
enough flexibility for an entire semester abroad.
Three days after returning from Spain, I went to the Dominican
Republic for a week and served as an interpreter for a team from
my church. It was amazing to turn around and use the skills that I
had been studying to then serve alongside members of my church
in a short-term missions trip. It was also wonderful to still have
my senior year left at Cedarville; I had a “second chance” to enjoy
the close-knit community, daily chapels, and friends I had missed.
God used both my education at Cedarville and in Spain to
shape me into a professional with a missional purpose to live out
my faith through my work. Studying internationally gave me
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Cedarville Magazine
