10 STETSON UNIVERSITY
The world is Torres' classroom By Molly justice Textbooks <strong>can</strong>'t convey the lessons learned while traveling and studying abroad, according to <strong>Stetson</strong> Univers<strong>it</strong>y graduate Belkys Torres. During her four years at <strong>Stetson</strong>, the 22-year-old English and Spanish major traveled to both Guatemala and Spain through the Alliance for International Reforestation (AIR) (see story, p. 12) and study abroad program (see story, p. 2), respectively. "These experiences changed me completely! I feel I have become more open-minded, more open to new experiences and more aware that Florida is not the center of the world," Torres said. "I value my abil<strong>it</strong>ies even more because I have taken on and succeeded in these adventures of traveling and living abroad." Her most recent trip abroad was to Spain in spring 2000 to study at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. There, Torres studied 20th - century Spanish theater, popular l<strong>it</strong>erature in England and works by Miguel Saavedra de Cervantes. Torres was one of 20 <strong>Stetson</strong> students who studied at the univers<strong>it</strong>y in Madrid for a semester and lived w<strong>it</strong>h host families. In add<strong>it</strong>ion to her studies, Torres also traveled to other c<strong>it</strong>ies in Spain such as Barcelona, San Sebastian, Cadiz and Santiago de Compostela. "You walk away w<strong>it</strong>h a greater feel of what the culture is actually like," she said. Students were able to talk about places they could vis<strong>it</strong> and art they could see in person, she said. In 1999, Torres traveled to Guatemala w<strong>it</strong>h four other <strong>Stetson</strong> students in the AIR program, under the direction of Pol<strong>it</strong>ical Science Professor Anne Hallum. Students are able to participate in the program through all-expense paid internships funded by <strong>Stetson</strong> Trustee David Rinker. The students spent several weeks in Guatemala and spoke w<strong>it</strong>h government officials about what they were <strong>do</strong>ing to help the ecological efforts of AIR. Add<strong>it</strong>ionally, Torres said she went into the rural areas of the country and learned about the region's agriculture. "I thought <strong>it</strong> would be a good opportun<strong>it</strong>y to get out of the <strong>Stetson</strong> commun<strong>it</strong>y and use what we learn in the classroom," she said, adding that she went to "experience the things the text just <strong>can</strong>'t convey." By planting trees w<strong>it</strong>h the Guatemalan people and living in their environment, Torres said she left w<strong>it</strong>h a new appreciation for what she has and how people in other parts of the world live. "You're just more humbled," she said. In add<strong>it</strong>ion to her experiences abroad, Torres also has been involved in raising awareness of cultural divers<strong>it</strong>y at <strong>Stetson</strong>. She is founder and past-president of HOLA, an organization of Hispanic Belkys Torres w<strong>it</strong>h school children in Guatemala where she participated in the AIR program, lived w<strong>it</strong>h a local family and learned about the region. (Photo courtesy of BeIkys Torres) students on campus. Torres also was president of the Multicultural Student Council and a student assistant in the Latin Ameri<strong>can</strong> Studies Program. Although Torres was born in the Un<strong>it</strong>ed States, her parents are Cuban and she was raised speaking both English and Spanish in Miami. "I hadn't noticed that I was very different from anyone else until I got to <strong>Stetson</strong>," she said. Torres wanted to form HOLA as a support network for other Hispanic students. "HOLA is a very pos<strong>it</strong>ive aspect of <strong>Stetson</strong>'s commun<strong>it</strong>y," she said. "I am pleased by that and by the fact that <strong>it</strong> brings an awareness that there is a Hispanic commun<strong>it</strong>y on campus." Not only have her extracurricular interests focused on her ethnic<strong>it</strong>y, Torres' studies have also focused on Hispanic culture. She received a <strong>Stetson</strong> Undergraduate Research Experience grant in summer 2000 and presented her findings ent<strong>it</strong>led, "Fiction, Feminism and Melodrama: Contemporary Hispanic Women's L<strong>it</strong>erature," to the univers<strong>it</strong>y commun<strong>it</strong>y in January. Her research explores how Hispanic-Ameri<strong>can</strong> women wr<strong>it</strong>ers use their novels to disprove commonly held stereotypes of Hispanic women as they are portrayed in Latin Ameri<strong>can</strong> soap operas. Torres' adviser for the project was Associate Professor of English Karen Kaivola. Kaivola said Torres and other equally comm<strong>it</strong>ted students have broadened understanding of cultural divers<strong>it</strong>y at <strong>Stetson</strong>. "(They have) given Hispanic culture a much more visible presence and developed important connections w<strong>it</strong>h other groups working to make <strong>Stetson</strong> a more inclusive commun<strong>it</strong>y," she said. "Owing to their efforts, <strong>Stetson</strong> is a different place now than <strong>it</strong> was when they arrived on campus four years ago." Kaivola said that Torres also brings a passion for understanding the dynamics of cultural differences to her course work as well. "As a student, she is intellectually amb<strong>it</strong>ious, pushing beyond the obvious in order to arrive at more complex and more substantive understandings of ideas, cultures and representations," she said. "As a person, she is intelligent, energetic, open-minded and compassionate." Torres graduated in May and is working at the Univers<strong>it</strong>y of Miami School of Law. She plans to return to school to earn a <strong>do</strong>ctorate in English cross-cultural l<strong>it</strong>erature and later teach at a univers<strong>it</strong>y. Mary Napier contributed to this article. Napier is a former associate vice president for enrollment management and dean of admissions at <strong>Stetson</strong> Univers<strong>it</strong>y. FALL 2001 11
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