by Angel D. Meneses-Castillo – Undergraduate student in Biological Engineering
The views and opinions expressed in the Graduate and International Ambassador Blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Arkansas.
Since I was very young, I dreamed of studying abroad. I remember I had a whiteboard in my bedroom with names of countries where I was inquiring about scholarship opportunities abroad. I chose the University of Arkansas because I really liked what I read about Fayetteville. I do not like big cities, so after watching a couple videos and reading some articles about the place and the university, I was sure that this was the place for me.
In high school, I fell in love with biology, and I enjoyed math very much. I wanted to study something that used both biology and math to help people, so I chose biological engineering, an amazing combination of applied biology and math that seeks to solve big problems that our world faces today, such as climate change, food insecurity and water pollution.
I am a firm believer that you need to get out of your comfort zone if you want to experience personal growth. I owe this mindset to my dad, who taught me the value of learning as much as I could of everything in life. This is the reason why I have been involved on campus since my first semester.
I did not leave my family and move to another country just to get a bachelor’s degree. I came to learn other languages (I learned English, Portuguese, and conversational Italian in the US). I came to learn about history, geography, and other cultures, lifestyles, and types of governments. I wanted to get ideas of how I could contribute to my country when I go back.
I am thankful that as I look back, I can say I have really gotten the most out of this experience. I have been involved in the International Culture Team and I was president the Panamanian Student Organization and Advent Club. I was an Associated Student Government (ASG) Senator and I represented the U of A at the Arkansas Student Leadership Forum in 2019. I am currently a College of Engineering Ambassador, I serve as Director of Global Awareness for the ASG.
