Ryan Bourgoin

Ryan Bourgoin

What made you decide to come to UA Little Rock?

The opportunities presented by the Donaghey Scholars Honors Program made it my first choice.  I’m glad that I came here of all places. Not only for convenience’s sake, but its location–the middle of a big metropolitan area. There are a lot more opportunities here than in other places. Also, while college students will be college students no matter where you go, our university draws a lot of working-middle-class people with practical, down-to-earth minds, which is nice.

What made you decide you wanted to major in Political Science?  Have your experiences met your expectations?

Politics is an area I’m interested in but not passionate about, and I didn’t want to ruin one of my passions by studying it in a classroom setting. I find politics disgusting, so being able to study how it happens from a more conceptual, data-driven angle has been almost like being a lab. I also figured it would be more challenging and instructive than any of the other areas I was interested in.

In summer 2019, you went to Cuba to study abroad.  Why did you decide to go to Cuba to study abroad?

I knew study abroad had to be an uncomfortable experience to be worth anything at all. For that reason, I picked Cuba–a country we have been feuding with for a long time, a country with a planned economy instead of a free market, a dictatorship rather than a democracy, and cultural homogeneity. I want to become fluent in Spanish, so I figured that, given its minimal connections to the English-speaking world, Cuba would be a good choice for immersion.  I would be forced to speak Spanish.

Also, my major played a role. Because of the country’s unique political situation as one of the only remaining communist nations, and its island insularity, I thought that it would present me with a great opportunity to learn about politics from a different perspective than I was accustomed to previously.

What was one highlight of your study abroad experience that is particularly memorable?

I will fold two different experiences into this answer.  The first was having dinner and a conversation with Alberto Granado, son of (the identically named) Alberto Granado. Who was the senior Alberto Granado? He accompanied Che Guevara on a motorcycle journey in the early 1950s–the subject of the 2004 biopic The Motorcycle Diaries–during which Che had the realizations that later led him to become a revolutionary. I asked Granado junior, who in his childhood knew Che as a family friend, what he thought of the revolutionary figure and his death and legacy. We took a trip to Che’s mausoleum and monument in Santa Clara, and we had a few discussions while we there, between the Americans and other members of our group. It was different to see in person a massive monument built to someone who, in our part of the world, is regarded as a villain or relegated to a t-shirt print for rebellious teenagers. Also, an emaciated drug addict begged us for water in front of the monument, which I suppose is quite ironic. All of that experience gave me a lot to think about.

What advice would you give to someone else who is considering doing a study abroad?

Pack half of what you think you need and drink lots of water. But, aside from that, talk to the Study Abroad Department about whatever scholarships you are eligible for and apply to them, try and go as long as possible for as cheap as possible, browse the internet, and go to fairs whenever you can.

Don’t go to Italy, France, the UK, etc. (at least not for your first study abroad). These countries are all very integrated with the US and comfy for our citizens.  In a cultural and sociopolitical sense, we share about 99% of everything with Western Europe. Go to a place that you think will be interesting–where you don’t speak the language etc. If it’s not uncomfortable, then you’re not learning, and you might as well be on vacation.

Second: Don’t expect your experience to just “be” amazing, mind-changing, earth-shaking, and horizon-broadening, whatever. It will only “be” whatever you make it, by taking risks, going out and seeing things, talking to people, and creating new opportunities in addition to seizing those that come along. In practice, you’ll probably never feel like you made the most you could out of your time, but the more new memories you make, the longer it will seem, and the more valuable it will be.

What do you want to do after you graduate?

My main career interest is writing novels, essays, poetry, and short stories, but for experience’s sake, I want to spend a lot of my time after graduation abroad–perhaps as a part of the Peace Corps, or under a Fulbright Grant, or another professional/volunteer/academic program.

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