Going The Extra Mile

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Emily Cortez

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Emily Cortez

<i>"Hello" in your host country's language:</i> Hej! <i>Home Institution (your U.S. University/College):</i> Illinois Wesleyan University <i>Expected graduation year:</i> 2024 <i>Destination city & country:</i> Copenhagen, Denmark <i>Program provider:</i> DIS Study Abroad in Scandinavia <i>Major/minor:</i> Psychology with a Specialization in Pediatric Therapy <i>Demographics:</i> Hispanic/Latinx <i>Future career aspirations:</i> My goal is to become a pediatric therapist. I am currently an assistant teacher at the YWCA for after school programs (Kindergarten-5th grade). I have a passion for developmental and learning psychology and, therefore, hope to specialize in therapy for children with abnormalities. I want to consistently work towards improving the accessibility of American psychological healthcare and debunk stigmas surrounding mental illness and different learning disabilities. <i>Top 3 goals for your time abroad:</i> 1. Expand my personal, academic, professional, and cultural knowledge while working towards achieving my goal of seeing global applications of psychology first-hand and being exposed to the historical context of modern practices. 2. Work with my host family to learn more about ethnic cuisine, traditions, and everyday life. 3. Apply what I learn while studying abroad to improve the methods of clinical therapy that are standardized in American psychological healthcare.

I live in Valby which is about 25 minutes by bus from central Copenhagen. I live with a host family; Dorthe, Claus, and their daughter Silje. The food here is a lot of rye bread, skyre, and herring. When I’m home I don’t eat meat but since I’m discovering a new culture I changed my diet so that I will be able to try Danish cousine. Herring was definitely a brave try for me but it ended up not being so bad. One thing i’ve been experiencing here that I don’t at home is sit down dinners. At home my parents get home at different times so often times it’s just me eating dinner on my own accord. It’s so nice to have a dinner time and to be sat down with the whole family without phones and just talk about our days, our week, or any silly stories we have on our minds. I learned so much about the culture through these talks and I am really thankful for the sit down dinners. I feel like American culture is very technologically oriented. Everyone has phones and most families have at least one car. In Denmark not everyone has cars and while everyone has phones, they’re mostly just used for communication purposes. The funniest things i’ve shared about American culture to my host family is our fast food sizes, the big gulp, and butter machines at movie theaters for your popcorn. They gaged at each of these things. Taking long walks as a family are also prioritized which is nice, however, Chicago really isn’t a walkable city so that doesn’t transfer over very well. I think taking the time to walk the extra mile, eat the food that might be out of your comfort zone, and getting to know the people you meet are all key staples to exploring a new culture. Learn important translations like “thank you,” “hello,” and “goodbye.”