As the dates for Graduate Record Exams and graduate school application deadlines come closer and closer with each passing week, many seniors are beginning to debate the course their lives will take after graduation.

For many, it is the pursuit of an expensive graduate school program for a master’s degree.  For others, it’s the search for a career amidst a nation with a growing unemployment rate and an unreliable job market.

But three St. Edward’s University alumni provide insight into another potential endeavor.  And the consensus seems to be “Go off and see the world.”

This was the advice given by these three students, all of whom have taken the year to travel abroad instead of diving straight into graduate school or careers in the United States. At the end of August, the three students with divergent backgrounds all departed for different parts of the world for their own individual reasons.

Caitlin Greenwood left to immerse herself in German culture, Ricky Jaen was in search of his Spanish heritage and Joelle Pearson sought to lose, and find, herself in South Korea.  Either way, they all bucked the trend and their experiences make a case for the invaluable lessons to be learned through world travel – lessons that teach you more about yourself than anything in a classroom or an office ever can. 

None of the students left with firm, decided travel itineraries, and the adjustment period was difficult at first in the rush of complete independence, foreign languages and disorienting newness.

Greenwood departed for Berlin on Aug. 27 with very limited connections and no plans in place for a job or an apartment.

“I had no idea where to go to buy groceries or get a cup of coffee or even the best place to grab a meal,” Greenwood said. “I have also been relatively isolated. There is no friend group to keep you preoccupied. It has been a lonely transition but one that I am incredibly appreciative of.”

In a matter of weeks, she said everything fell into place though.  Greenwood still doesn’t have a job, but, she isn’t seeking one either. 

“I am doing absolutely nothing and it is fantastic,” she said.  “I support everyone working hard during their undergraduate degrees and taking that money and having a quarter-life vacation. I think everyone should completely abandon their life and see if they can stand on their own.”

In the spring, Greenwood plans to enroll at the Freie Universität to study German language and literature. 

She graduated from St. Edward’s in May 2009 with a BA in Philosophy, and said she has studied Germany, and specifically aspects of the Holocaust, throughout her academic career.  At St. Edward’s, Greenwood studied not only the German language, but took a variety of courses on Germany through the Honors Program and wrote her thesis about German history. Her philosophy background encouraged her to deepen her understanding of that period of German history by confronting the remnants first-hand, propelling her trip to Germany.

Both Jaen and Pearson had plans to teach once they arrived in their host countries, but they were on their own to find residences, make connections and adapt to foreign cities, a daunting feat on its own.

Jaen, a psychology major, graduated from St. Edward’s in December of 2008.  Jaen said he has been trying to get to Spain his entire life, and at the end of August, he finally achieved this goal.  Jaen said his frequent trips to Panama, where his father was born, gave him not only valuable Spanish language skills, but an intrigue into his Spanish heritage.

Currently, Jaen is an assistant English professor at a secondary school in Manzanares, Spain.  He was hired by the Ministry of Education in Spain to begin, under contract, in September.  Jaen said he left the United States a month early to couch surf and travel by bus across Europe since it was his first time visiting the continent.  Jaen said he planned his trip in hopes of broadening his horizons, discovering more about Spain and increasing his confidence with the language.  He encourages other students to do the same.

“Go out and see the world,” he said. “Get out of the US, if only to have a better understanding of where you come from and where you stand in the world.”

Pearson, at first, was worried about her own decision to travel to South Korea, thinking it would make her appear lazy or self-interested.

But this thought doesn’t plague her mind now.  She said she has found the importance of allowing oneself to simply enjoy life without regret.

Pearson said she was tired of working away the best years of her life in a library, when she was so young and full of energy and curiosity.  She was also feeling increasingly confined and limited in Austin. 

Surrounded by news of job losses and hiring freezes, she got the impression that she would not find a job immediately.   And so she chose to travel to Seoul and left Austin on Aug 23.

“I picked a place that was Austin’s diametric opposite: Seoul,” she said. “A sequestered, ancient, industrial boomtown where I couldn’t speak the language and I didn’t look like any of the people. I wanted a place that would make me feel so uncomfortable, so alien, that I would be forced to grow at an accelerated pace.”

Pearson, who graduated from St. Edward’s with a BA in English Writing and Rhetoric, also wanted to write, which fueled her travel interests.

“If I really want to write, I need to live,” she said. “Unlike a lot of professions, writers seem to richen with age. I don’t have to be in Austin to “get connections” just yet. I needed to see the world and find something to spark my curiosity for it again.”

Pearson is now teaching twice a day, using her degree more than she ever expected.  During the day, she teaches English at an elementary school where she assists a Korean teacher with pronunciation and conversational English skills.  At night, she teaches advanced English grammar and business writing to principals and English department heads. 

“I never thought I would be using the terms ‘misplaced modifier’ or ‘adjectival’ or ‘indefinite pronoun’ after college,” she said. “But I do, in sweating detail, every night. It’s so exciting for me. I loved grammar and good writing and the nuances of English, and now, I get to teach it to people who value its importance.”

Overcoming the language barrier was the biggest challenge for the three students. Pearson, whose only exposure to Korean was from a phrasebook she received before she left, said the Korean language is amazingly difficult to learn. 

“I felt so disoriented and couldn’t ask anyone for help,” she said. “I had to learn to ask myself for help.”

Greenwood said although her German speaking skills were weak, she is slowly becoming more confident in conversations.

“There’s something very humbling about catching only 3 words in a string of sentences,” she said.

Jaen, however, had an advantage since he knew the Spanish language well before his arrival in Spain.

“Speaking exclusively Spanish was a lot easier than I thought it would be, once I was completely immersed in the culture,” he said. 

The language barrier hasn’t restricted their social lives, however. Just two months into their endeavors, they all mentioned they had made friends already and have bustling social lives.

Greenwood said she is lucky enough to be rooming with someone who owns both a bar and a club in Neukölln, the city she lives in.

“I serendipitously walked into a social scene through my living situation,” she said. Pearson admitted to making a lot of friends, three of whom she is particularly close to, despite what she called her quiet, nerdy personality. She said she often meets Koreans in the streets who are intrigued by her foreign looks and they will go play pool, eat, drink and talk about culture.

Jaen said he’s met people from all over the world, and enjoys going to tapas bars with them or taking small weekend trips in Spain. And despite the exotic and enchanting appeal of their travels, they, as anyone would, miss home in some way.

“If anyone can ship me a breakfast taco, I would give them my life savings,” Greenwood said.

“Other than my friends and family, I miss buffalo wings, A1 sauce, and Dr. Pepper,” Jaen said.

Pearson admitted to missing houses, since no one in Seoul has one. 

“I never realized how much I liked going over to my friends’ houses and cooking or drinking on their porches, playing games in the yard, watching the sunset or sunrise in comfort,” she said.

Greenwood, Jaen and Pearson all plan to return to the United States to eventually pursue graduate school and careers.  When they will do that, however, is still up in the air, not straying from the initial spontaneous nature of their travels.

Greenwood has intentions, even if loose ones she said, to return home in May.  She is applying to graduate programs in Germanic studies and Philosophy.

“But I am open to embarking on any adventure that I feel attracted to,” she said. Pearson plans to briefly travel to Europe and South America after her contract is up, but then, she said, she has to return and be realistic.

 “I can’t live this sort of free-and-easy life forever,” she said. “I need to come back, continue pursuing writing and editing, and continue with graduate school.”

Jaen also shares plans to return to the United States to pursue graduate school for art therapy, but he is going to wait and see where he stands, both mentally and financially, when his one-year contract is up.

Until then, he said he is going to “keep living life as hard as he can.”