When Pique enrolled at NAU, she had no idea her pursuit of a geology\ndegree would take her to South America\u2014she left her Chicago home to come out\nwest, enticed by the possibility of studying Death Valley, the San Juan Mountains and the Grand Canyon as part\nof her curriculum. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While meeting with a guidance counselor after arriving to campus, the Interdisciplinary Global Program<\/a> (IGP) was suggested as an option. \u201cWhat\u2019s IGP?\u201d she thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIGP is a double degree program that our students here at NAU can\nparticipate in,\u201d said Marcela Pino Alcaraz<\/strong>, program manager for IGP. \u201cStudents\nearn one degree in a STEM field, business or hospitality, and a second degree\nin culture or language. So, it\u2019s really great for people who are interested in\ncultures, want to learn more about languages, want to travel the world and want\nto make a difference with their career.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Being raised in a Hispanic household and having taken four years of Spanish in high school, Pique was practically fluent, so adding a second major in a language to be eligible to apply for IGP didn\u2019t scare her off. She was put in contact with IGP coordinator Liliane Palm<\/strong>, who informed Pique that Argentina was being added as a destination and it just so happened to be orchestrated by geologists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Without hesitation, she applied to the\nprogram.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Through IGP, students spend six months studying abroad and six\nmonths working at an internship or doing research abroad. Alcaraz believes\nthis type of immersion is beneficial in more ways than one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMost study abroad programs really emphasize short-term education\nabroad, and our program is a full year abroad,\u201d she said. \u201cIt really enables\nthe students to immerse and participate in not just the academic components,\nbut the cultural components of being and living abroad.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pique was accepted into the program as a freshman and spent the\nfirst three years of her college education building up credits and\nprerequisites that would allow her to spend her fourth year abroad before\nreturning to complete her fifth year back at NAU. She also was responsible for\nfinding her own internships abroad, so she turned to Michael Ort<\/strong>, a\nmentor, professor and volcanologist who had lived and worked in South America\nprior to coming to NAU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAfter taking a geophysics course with him, I grew very interested\nin volcanoes,\u201d Pique said. \u201cSo, I asked Dr. Ort if he knew of any research\nprojects I could join in on during my time in South America.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He did. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Pique was put in touch with a woman who works at El Instituto\nGeofisico, the Volcano Observatory of Ecuador. After sending her credentials\nand several months of communicating, she was invited to intern, where she would\nspend her time researching The Reventador Volcano in the Amazon Basin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When the time came to spend her year abroad, Pique headed to Tucum\u00e1n, Argentina, where she\nstudied geology in a Spanish-speaking university. After the six months were\ncompleted, she went to Ecuador to get hands-on experience working in an\ninternship. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether\nit is researching volcanology through various books and papers; using a\ntelescope to study volcanic ash sediment, separating them based on specific characteristics;\nor spending time in the field, hiking more than eight hours through the jungle\nto visit what she calls \u201cher\u201d volcano, the experience she got was unlike\nanything she could have received in the U.S. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy experience working in a different country was difficult,\nrewarding, challenging and exciting. Communicating with people in Spanish could\nbe difficult, especially after hours of hiking in the field and just wanting to\nrevert back to English and not think about it. But, because of how challenging\nthis was, my language skills have grown immensely, as well as my persistence\nduring challenging moments. My favorite part was pushing myself to work harder,\nwhether it be physically in the field on top of volcanoes or mentally during my\nresearch at the observatory.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pique is grateful to IGP for the education and research\nopportunities she received during her year abroad, but even more so for the\nlife experiences. When she wasn\u2019t studying or working, she spent her weekends\ntraveling to nearby cities and countries, experiencing the politics, music, art and food of\nSouth America. Before she made her way back to the U.S. after her internship\nconcluded, she spent two weeks on a solo backpacking trip in Tierra del Fuego, Patagonia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot only did this program challenge me and allow me to grow in\nmore ways than I could have ever imagined, but I met the most incredible people\nalong the way,\u201d she said. \u201cI met scientists who educated me about the world I\nam interested in, activists who taught me to stand up for what I believe in,\nlinguists who taught me the beauty of being able to communicate with someone in\ntheir vernacular, artists who inspired me by vision and vagabonds who taught me\nthat the Earth is everyone\u2019s shared home. Every person I met taught me a new\nworld view and because of them, I am a wiser world citizen and a more confident\nme. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is true what people say, the places you see are amazing, but it is the people you meet<\/em> that make the true difference.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Listen to Alcaraz and Pique discuss IGP and the many opportunities to study abroad in the LumberChats: Inside NAU podcast episode\u2014How to spend 1 year abroad & earn 2 degrees.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Carly Banks | NAU Communications![\"\"](\"http:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wordpresst\/uploads\/sites\/153\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Screen-Shot-2019-10-23-at-11.28.41-AM-1024x195.png\")
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(928) 523-5582 | carly.banks@nau.edu<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"