Fortaleza

Fortaleza means Strength and fortitude in Spanish. The Fortaleza cohort gained new strengths while traveling and showed fortitude in the face of obstacles.

Alesa Pritchett

Since being back I have felt great. Things are back to normal and I'm enjoying the summer with family and friends. I have spent time with my mom helping her with my ill grandparents. I work at a daycare so with my extra time I spend a lot of it there. Saving money to pay for my study abroad trip. I will go back to Portland Community College in the fall and continue on finishing my prerequisites. I recently took a family trip to Memphis, Tennessee and Mobile, Alabama to spend time with family.

Arisbeth Garcia Delgado

My name is Aris! I am Mexican-American. I was born in the U.S. and a first generation college student. I just completed my first two years of college and I plan on earning a four year degree in psychology. Through Carpe Mundi, I got the opportunity to travel, learn new skills, experience something new, come out of my comfort zone, and earn good grades. I have now completed the program, I am currently employed and will be starting school again in the fall. I will also continue to travel and experience great things. Fortaleza 2017.

Jovin Mazawa

Central America was the best experience I've had so far, thanks to programs like these. I traveled with seven other students who helped me grow into the person that I am now. After the trip, I have learned awareness of other people, the key to being happy, being myself and most importantly, I learned that I can control how I react in any situation. Coming back home was a little overwhelming because I had to start working again, and my family was moving as well. I did not know what I was going to do for school because where I live now is a bit far from PCC, but I sat down and wrote down some of my options. For this fall, I will still attend PCC and finish off my remaining credits. After I finish those credits, I'm going to make my way to PSU. PSU has been the school I've always wanted to graduate from and that's what's going to happen. I really appreciate programs like this that gives opportunities to low-income students to be educated in the most fun and unforgettable way. I not only completed courses for school, but I grew as a person and learned so much about myself. This was indeed a life changing experience.

Kelly Martinez

It's been amazing being back home in the states with my family. I didn't realize how much I have missed them. I'm glad to be going back to my church and seeing all of my friends and family. I am glad to have finished all my essays I had to do for Portland State University. They were difficult to complete. Definitely had me up all night. But now I'm just about to start work for the summer. Getting back to my old routine. I really miss having three meals a day being prepared for me.

Maria Hernandez

Since coming back from living in Central America for two entire months, I definitely want to see the world more. I traveled to Colorado a month after returning to the US. I honestly didn't know if studying abroad would change me but I stood corrected. Learning about the culture and history of Nicaraguan's and Costa Rican's opened my eyes to how different life is in other parts of the world. And I'm more grateful for every blessing I have taken for granted. I'm going back to school at PCC this Fall term and I'll be visiting my old high school soon to talk to students about studying abroad and how they can do it too.

Michael Vang

Hola! I am Papas. I recently came back from Central America two months ago. I traveled through Nicaragua and Costa Rica for two months too. It was very rewarding, but now that I stopped traveling at the moment, I have been writing papers and finishing the last requirements of Carpe Mundi. Right now I’m currently working two jobs, and I have been super busy. I think it is finally starting to tackle my mentality. But push that aside and I am doing great. I will continue college in fall, despite not being the best student, but I will continue my general studies at Portland Community College, and transfer out to Portland State University tov study my majors, Political Science, and Criminal Justice.

Rebekah Lathan

My name is Rebekah Lathan, I recently graduated from Jefferson High School and I will be starting classes at PCC this fall. I will be traveling to Central America next spring and I'm really excited! This will be my first time leaving the country. I'm mostly excited to see the different environment. I love to study plants, animals and weather. I can't wait to live in a new environment.

Trey Slyapich

Hi, my name is Trey Slyapich. Currently I work in a community program called STRYVE (Striving To Reduce Youth Violence Everywhere) and have taken up an internship at Fettle Botanic Supply, an herb and tea shop. I plan to finish PCC this year with a Transfer degree and then continue on to university in the following years. I also plan to continue traveling since Carpe Mundi has given me the travel bug. The next destination is Canada!