Name: Shelby Corbett
Field of Study: Criminology
Expected Graduation: 2026
Summer Program: IBERO
Program Location: Mexico
Recap of Shelby’s Experience:
Sometimes, your biggest dreams feel fake until you accomplish them. I have dreamed about going to Mexico since I was in eighth grade, and in recent years, I started to believe that this dream would never come true. However, this summer, I was able to take part in a fantastic study-abroad opportunity in Mexico.
The day I landed in Mexico City still feels surreal. I remember walking through the airport, terrified about the next six weeks, but little did I know the relationships and memories I would form. The program was based in Puebla, Mexico. We would attend a university called IBERO, and each of us would live with a host family. The host families only spoke Spanish. I lived with two women who were sisters-in-law. The main host mom was Carmalita; she is eighty-three years old and made the best food!
She always talked to me about politics in Mexico and other topics that I found interesting. I still speak to Carmelita on WhatsApp and miss her every day. The other woman was named Gloria. Gloria is eighty-nine years old and marched to her own drum. She was so funny and was the sweetest person I have ever met. She could not hear very well, so she did not always talk, but she never failed to make everyone laugh and feel loved. I wish I could have spent more time with them, but another part of our program involved visiting four different cities in Mexico.
We visited Oaxaca, la Ciudad de México, Veracruz, and Cuetzalan. Each of these places was special in its own way. Oaxaca has a lot of ruins from different civilizations, and a small town within the state of Oaxaca is known for its Alebrijes, or spirit animals like the ones in the movie Coco. La Ciudad de México is the capital of Mexico and, at one point in history, the capital of the Aztec Empire. Veracruz is a state in the Gulf of Mexico. Finally, we visited Cuetzalan, which is a small town in Puebla. It has a lot of outdoor activities and beautiful waterfalls.
We met another group from the United States and hung out with them for one night. The other group was very different from ours, and I understand every group is different when it comes to school-sponsored programs, but I am unsure if the leaders just picked people that seemed similar or the smaller number of people, but every person in my program became friends with each other. We had movie nights, played fun games on the bus, and always hung out together. People can make or break your program, and this group made my program a million times better. I miss hanging out with them. When hanging out with the other group, I realized how lucky I was to have a group with no drama and to enjoy each other.
This program forever changed my life, and I will never forget the people I met through it.