Paradise to Reality
09/11/2025
North holds no regrets about his experience, stating, “Everything about that trip, the good and the bad, taught me lessons and transformed me into who I am today.”
Student Shares Cross-Cultural Lessons
On Tuesday, Sept. 2, Bluffton University kicked off their First Tuesday in the Library series with Coen North ‘26, Spanish and communications and media double major, who shared his experience of his semester abroad in Yucatán, Mexico.
North opened by sharing a story with the audience of his two and a half week, 7th grade trip to Peru which he recalled was the “best period of my life.” That trip inspired him to take advantage of Bluffton’s semester abroad program.
Through the first chapter of his semester he was in his paradise, but it didn’t take long for this paradise to crumble, turning into a “jail cell.” Interestingly, though, his environment hadn’t changed at all from when he saw it as paradise. His “feeling of vacation wore off and reality set in.”
North felt isolated while he was in Mexico, citing a few reasons – bad family space, physical appearance and language barrier, among other problems that combined to create a perfect storm.
In his speech, North did not shy away from the difficulties of a semester abroad but framed this adversity he faced as a learning experience.
North shared his four main learnings from his semester long adventure: 1- A solid community capable of providing a place where you can be vulnerable is of utmost importance. 2- “No matter where you find yourself, there lies your reality.” 3- Life looks vastly different for some, compared to the way a lot of people in our “bubble” live. And 4- “A good way to learn the ‘right way’ is to try the wrong way."
He wrapped up by sharing some words of wisdom with the audience.
“I won’t say that the trip changed me completely from the person that I used to be to the person that I aim to be one day. I’m still in between those two points, as I would imagine all of us are,” voiced North. “I brought things home with me that I would have liked to leave behind.”
North holds no regrets, though, stating, “Everything about that trip, the good and the bad, taught me lessons and transformed me into who I am today.”
His final words connect back to his opening story of his trip to Peru. “It’s safe to say that this semester abroad experience was not all that similar to my trip in 7th grade. But, if it was only good with no bad like I anticipated, what fun would that be?”
-Coen North ‘26