Andi Utter '20 on traveling abroad, sustainability, and living with no regrets

Hola! Dumelang! Habari gani?

I just gave greetings in the three languages that I have a working understanding of. None of this knowledge would have been possible without studying abroad, which is why I am such a huge advocate of “taking on your world” outside of the country! But first, let me back up and introduce myself properly.

My name is Andi Utter. I hail from a small dot on the map known as Eureka, Montana, and my family has lived there for several decades. I’m a senior (May 2020) studying Environmental Science and Policy. I chose to study ENSP because I took this wonderful class in high school as part of the International Baccalaureate program called Environmental Systems and Societies, and as a part of that class we did a lot of citizen science work for Glacier National Park. We caught dragonfly larvae for Mercury testing, in addition to projects about mountain goat counting in the park. This sparked my interest in this branch of science, mainly because it is so relevant to our everyday existence! I chose St. Edward’s because of the generous scholarship assistance in addition to the small campus with a friendly teacher to student ratio. What I found here was so much more, especially when it came to opportunities to go abroad!

My sister served as my original inspiration to go abroad because I had asked her “What was your biggest regret from college,” and the response was “I didn’t study abroad.” I told myself that will not be me, I’m simply too curious.

It started with going to study food justice and production in Costa Rica, traveling to San Jose, Volcano Irizu, and a coffee plantation. After all of my classmates left, I decided to stay and volunteer with a turtle conservation group in the small town of Osteonal, in a wildlife refuge. My host family helped me to improve my language skills in Spanish, mainly because no one knew a whiff of English!

I spent the next year immersed in the Tswana culture of Gaborone, Botswana. I lived in a dorm of local students with my roommate arriving from Kasane, Botswana. I spent a year learning Setswana, a Bantu language with harsh “guh” and “kuh” sounds. In addition to my university studies, my traveling soul spent time in Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Namibia. Most of the people I met on these journeys became friends for life.

When I got back to St. Edward’s, I was really upset because I was suffering from reverse homesickness. I wondered if I would be able to go abroad again, but my savings were milked dry and there was no way. I was so disappointed but I applied to a couple of huge opportunities and a few said yes! The one I ended up partnering with was the Critical Language Scholarship, which is a fully funded opportunity to study a foreign language abroad with the help of the State Department. This summer, from June to August, I will be studying Kiswahili in Arusha, Tanzania. This furthers my goals of having a better understanding of Bantu languages while also priming me to become a future employee in foreign service (a win-win).

I find that it is really unproductive to lecture and teach the gospel of sustainable living if a family struggles to meet their basic needs. For example, in Botswana, most individuals live a more sustainable lifestyle just by virtue of not consuming a lot of goods. Most of their food trade comes from South Africa, not areas halfway around the world. The only truly unsustainable habits I saw engaged in was the littering problem, and this was engaged by all members young and old. So each society I visited had a unique way of implementing sustainability, with Costa Rica being the top dog in performance! There is still a lot for me to learn, especially my own footprint and the impact I make.

Even while abroad, my St. Edward’s classroom experience has taught me to always look with a critical eye at the details in front of you. Learning takes place both inside and outside of a classroom, so in my travels, most of the people and places I saw became my new learning center. In my courses at St. Edward’s, most of my classes are writing intensive, so this served me well in my overseas classroom setting because I got placed in upper-level political science courses. Most students do not get to learn about research writing until that level, so I served as an example and tutor to some of my fellow classmates that came to me for help.

The moral of the story here is that study abroad will change your life for the better. It teaches you a lot about yourself, as well as the culture you immerse yourself into. While you do not need to become a study abroad glutton like myself, there is a lot to be gained from it and so many campus and scholarship resources to help you! Please feel free to reach out and ask me more, and be sure to pay attention to campus resources (i.e. the Office of Fellowships) for upcoming stellar opportunities.

Kwaherini, go siame, y adios!

Story by Andi Utter ’20