Este nomás, poh: From South Hadley to Santiago
Through my Spanish major I developed the ability for critical, concise, well-written work throughout my post-graduate career.
Aviva Elzufon ’10, Intern and Student
Major: Spanish and Latin American Studies
International Internships: Youth Employability Program Intern, Fondo de Solidaridad e Inversion Social, Santiago, Chile; Policy Intern, Comitê para a Democratização da Informática, Santiago, Chile;
Study Abroad Program: MCGI Study Abroad Program Intern with the Center for Cross-Cultural Study (Seville, Spain), 2007; IES Direct Enrollment Universidad San Francisco de Quito (Quito, Ecuador), 2009
Advanced Degrees: MPA/MA - Latin American Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington
The biggest gift being a Spanish and Latin American Studies double major gave me at MHC is the ability for critical, concise, and well-written work throughout my post-graduate career. After graduation, I worked for two years in a nonprofit in New York City working on Technical Operational Management and Documentation.
In Fall of 2012, I returned to school - attending Indiana University at Bloomington, to pursue a dual master's degree in Public Administration and Latin American Studies. In order to make the degree meaningful throughout my studies, and in my current professional track, I have continuously relied on my ability to use literature and reason to connect seemingly unrelated subjects - as I did between my classes in Mount Holyoke.
The other major gift was the academic, financial, and personal support that Mount Holyoke Faculty and the McCulloch Center for Global Initiatives provided me to intern in Seville, Spain in the Summer 2007, study abroad in Quito, Ecuador in Spring 2009, and intern again with Fondo de Solidaridad e Inversion Social in Santiago, Chile in Summer 2009. I returned to Santiago in the Summer of 2012 to intern with Comitê para a Democratização da Informática.
I am currently living in Santiago, Chile working and have fulfilling work as a QA Manager at Alquimia Tecnologías.
Update: I married someone I met during my 2013 internship to Chile in late August and we are currently living in Santiago, Chile. I was hired at at a sotfware development company within 24 hours of starting to look for a job. I am responsible for project management, technical specification and testing development and documentation and client relationship management. My job is entirely in Spanish.