Our student José Julián Villaseñor, Industrial Engineering Administrator, shares with us the international experience he lived during his stay at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
When you entered Uni did you know there were international programs?
I entered the University of Celaya because of the career in which I am developing, in addition to the reputation that the university has, but I was not so aware of the academic mobility plans abroad that they have.
When you entered your career, did you think you would go to live and study abroad?
No, because before my plans were to finish my degree and get a job in a company, and thanks to the language program that the university has and my exchange in Brazil, I am broadening my professional horizons, and improving the way I communicate with people even if it is in another language.
Have you ever lived or studied outside of Mexico before?
No, this is my first time living and studying abroad, but I will try hard not to make it the only time.
What prompted or motivated you to study in another country?
To get out of my zone of conformity and experience the expectations and way of living within the customs and cultures of another country, and to strengthen different aspects of my professional and personal life, as well as my skills.
Why did you decide to study in that country?
Because the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul has very good engineering curricula to offer to the student community, and also as a recommendation of the University of Celaya for my curriculum.
How did you feel when you arrived in the new country?
At first I felt very excited and proud of myself, my family and my career, for having managed to get to the place where I am and that my way of doing things resulted in the achievement of being part of this exchange, from then on, most of the time I was always positive and cheerful for the upcoming situations in Brazil.
How have you been received at the university where you arrived?
From the moment we arrived for the first time, the university has always been in constant communication with all the intercampers, from the meetings to inform the school aspects, as well as to give us a warm welcome to all of us and their help for the situations that have arisen during our stay, in a very friendly manner and always with the doors open for any questions or problems we might have.
What will you miss most about Mexico and UNI?
What I miss most about Mexico is living with my family and friends, and the gastronomic diversity that we Mexicans have. What I miss most about La UNI is the kind of coexistence and the university atmosphere that usually exists, and it has a lot to do with some difficulties that I occasionally have when communicating and the lack of university atmosphere that I have had during my stay at PUCRS.
What is the most exciting thing you have experienced so far in this experience?
Due to the exchange date, we were able to be present at the Carnival in Brazil, which is supposed to be one of the biggest in the world and we enjoyed it so much that we made a second trip to Florianopolis where we were able to appreciate even more the nature that this beautiful island has to offer.
And the hardest part?
Seeing the causes that we have in Brazil thanks to the quarantine, since I saw how some people lost their jobs and wondered what they were going to do until the quarantine ended, many more unemployed people looking for decent work in the streets, and in a way that has affected us all, the good thing was that I am accompanied by friends who make the weight of the quarantine lighter.
What do you expect as a person and as a professional from this experience?
As a person I hope to be able to take the experiences I have had while I have been fending for myself in a new environment for me, in order to prepare myself better in the future; as a professional I want to continue preparing myself to continue having a career as I have had so far and thanks to the new perspectives I am acquiring, I can know better important points in which I believe I can be efficient for my career and for my community.
Do you recommend these opportunities provided by Uni to your colleagues?
Of course I recommend them to my colleagues, as these kinds of opportunities make you have the kind of life-changing discoveries, and it's also very likely to improve your perception in terms of thinking, what would things be like if...?
And that for me is what I'm thankful to have gotten this opportunity.
Nuestra alumna Mariana Enriquez, de la Lic. en Psicología, nos comparte la experiencia de su estancia internacional en la Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Medellin, Colombia.
When you entered Uni did you know there were international programs?
Si, fue una de las razones por las que decidí entrar a la escuela.
Cuando entraste a tu carrera, ¿creíste que te irías a vivir y estudiar en el extranjero? Siempre fue una meta, no tenía claro en donde o como pero definitivamente era algo que buscaba hacer en algún momento.
Have you ever lived or studied outside of Mexico before?
No por tanto tiempo, es la primera vez que salgo de México por una estancia larga.
What prompted or motivated you to study in another country?
Conocer nuevas culturas, formas de pensar, enriquecer mis estudios, nuevos amigos y experiencias.
Why did you decide to study in that country?
Colombia tiene muchas cosas interesantes, su historia me parece fascinante y los paisajes que tiene son increíbles. La escuela también fue un factor importante, tiene muy buenos maestros, materias e instalaciones.
How did you feel when you arrived in the new country?
Muchos nervios, llegar a un lugar nuevo nunca es fácil, pero desde el primer día supe que iba a ser un gran semestre.
How have you been received at the university where you arrived?
Muy bien, fueron todos muy atentos y serviciales, procurando que entendiéramos todo y brindarnos las herramientas necesarias para nuestro semestre.
What will you miss most about Mexico and UNI?
Mi familia y maestros.
What is the most exciting thing you have experienced so far in this experience?
Vivir en cuarentena fue algo muy interesante, a pesar de estar en casa, fue muy entretenido, al vivir con roomies hizo que fuera toda una aventura cada día.
And the hardest part?
Estar lejos de mi familia en tiempos tan extraños, aunque estaba muy bien y entretenida, una parte de mí quería estar en casa.
What do you expect as a person and as a professional from this experience?
Esta experiencia me hizo crecer mucho en ambos ámbitos, desarrollé competencias que no tenía como profesional, enfrentándome a retos en clases o proyectos, de igual forma como persona aprendí más sobre mí y de lo que soy capaz. Sin duda después de eso sé que puedo llegar aún más lejos y seguir luchando por mis sueños.
Do you recommend these opportunities provided by Uni to your colleagues?
¡Claro! Es una oportunidad que no siempre se puede tener, hay que aprovechar lo que nos brinda nuestra universidad al máximo y vivir todas las experiencias posibles. No se van a arrepentir.
Our student Erika Jazmín Cortez, from the Culinary Arts program, won a Uni scholarship thanks to her effort and dedication, with the opportunity to stay at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
When you entered Uni did you know there were international programs?
Yes, when I was looking for my options they explained to me that at the university in Celaya they had many scholarship opportunities of all kinds and that they made a lot of use of the scholarships that the State of Guanajuato also offers.
When you entered your career, did you think you would go to live and study abroad?
Honestly no, it was something that terrified me because it was something completely different, besides I imagined that it was a very complicated procedure.
Have you ever lived or studied outside of Mexico before?
No, it is the first time I leave the country and to be honest I am having a great experience.
What prompted or motivated you to study in another country?
Getting out of your comfort zone is something very complicated, so that's what motivated me to improve myself personally and professionally, to make a change in my life for the better.
Why did you decide to study in that country?
I chose Brazil because since high school I had a great desire to know its festivities, especially the carnival. Also its gastronomy is very interesting and I wanted to learn the language, which is Portuguese.
How did you feel when you arrived in the new country?
I felt a lot of fear since arriving to a completely different place is difficult, I didn't speak the language and communicating was complicated even though Spanish is a bit similar to Portuguese. But it's not all bad, I also felt very excited and happy to experience new things and learn more.
How have you been received at the university where you arrived?
I was surprised how all the professors and mobility students receive you with much affection and enthusiasm, they give you a lot of support in anything you need, whether it is paperwork or shopping. I am very grateful to the University for the welcome they gave us.
What will you miss most about Mexico and UNI?
From Mexico it would be my family, the weather, festivities and above all the food because there are no two like ours. From the university to my teachers and friends, I think also the way of evaluating.
What is the most exciting thing you have experienced so far in this experience?
Undoubtedly it is to have met many new people and create bonds of friendship, also tourism is very good, but it is always complemented by good people.
And the hardest part?
Being away from my family would be the most difficult thing, apart from the situation that we live in COVID-19 this complicated my stay here in Brazil but being far from home. Although I am grateful for the support that PUCRS University gave me.
What do you expect as a person and as a professional from this experience?
I am no longer afraid to experience new things, not to stay in a comfort zone. I want this experience to help me grow more in my professional field since I know a different gastronomic culture, that this will be an impulse to continue learning and traveling more.
Do you recommend these opportunities provided by Uni to your colleagues?
I recommend it 100%, this is an experience that no one should tell you about, you should live it. If you have the opportunity and the support of an institution you must make the most of it, what better time than now?
Every day we consume information in a wide variety of media: mass media, social networks and what we hear "by word of mouth". We are well aware that much of the information we receive is not from reliable sources, yet we continue to consume such information (or misinformation) and, in the worst cases, to spread it. Why do we continue to believe implausible, illogical claims without evidence to back them up? The 4th semester students of Communication and Audiovisual Media of the University of Celaya various projects have been carried out to explain these phenomena.
There is an online game called Bad News. In this game you assume the role of a fake news writer and you must create the most eye-catching fake news to get as many (fictitious) followers as possible with catchy headlines based on the didactic and funny explanation that is integrated in each level of the game. The creators of Bad News are a multi-disciplinary group of researchers, journalists and media experts who analyze the phenomenon of misinformation, created this media literacy tool in conjunction with other educational programs. What they are looking for is that by allowing the user to experience how fake news works, resistance to it increases.
Inspired by the well-known game Bad NewsThe challenge for the students of Communication and Audiovisual Media was that in a couple of classes they had to come up with a creative way to explain the phenomena that influence the distortion of the information we consume on the Internet and social networks. Their results are presented below:
Fake news: The phenomenon of broadcasting and dissemination of fake news has had a great negative impact on democracy and different areas of social life.That is why studentsVictoria Rábago and Ángel Magueyal Zamarroni designed an interactive quiz in which the challenge is to identify whether the news that appears on the screen is real or fake news.You can take this quiz to identify how likely you are to believe fake news by taking the following quizclick here.
Churnalism: Students Lucero Ruiz Guzmán and María José Banda Amézaga invented a game in which they exemplify the results of churnalism. Churnalism is a practice that consists of copying and pasting textually the content of a page in many others. It usually happens in content blogs and even in the media that replicate the content found in other sources, without analyzing or adding original content. This is why when looking for certain information, definition, content, we usually find the same text (usually deficient) in multiple pages, because each page replicates the content of the previous one. The game created by Lucero and María José leads players to discover this bad practice, to invite them to think about it and avoid it. You can see the video of the game in action here.
Troll farms: Jorge Mauricio Flores and Erick Hernández created a video and a game in Kahoot to explain to the audience what troll farms are and how they work. On the Internet, more specifically in social networks and discussion forums, it is common to find trolls, i.e. profiles of people who tend to criticize, annoy or attack with comments profiles that express opinions different from theirs. Sometimes this work is carried out by bots. But there are also TROLL FARMSThese are companies that hire people to create fake profiles on social networks and make comments for or against according to the needs of the clients who hire them, disguising this activity as "public relations" actions.
Filter bubble: The search results and posts we see on our social networks are based on predictions made by algorithms based on our characteristics, preferences and previous online activity, this is why if you are planning your next trip abroad on your Instagram account you see ads for cheap flights. But it's also because of this bubble filter that when you consult information on the Internet you only find a part of all the existing information, since it is filtered according to your previous online activity, thus limiting you from seeing information or points of view other than your own, which in turn prevents you from seeing the whole picture. To explain this concept in a visual way, students Paulina Aguilar and Ana Laura Saavedra made this animation.
Resonance chamber or echo chamber: Constanza and Celeste made a short film with a lot of humor in which they show a conversation of a (fictitious) group whose members have a very deep-rooted opinion in their thinking and are not open to listen to other visions, as an example of the phenomenon called echo chamber. Note, the example was taken to the extreme and does not represent the opinion of the creators.
Clickbait: To exemplify in a didactic and fun way how pages are created whose purpose is to obtain the greatest number of clicks possible regardless of the quality of the content, students Andrea Rentería and Carolina Villegas designed a board game in which players must find the titles with the greatest potential to obtain clicks according to the classification of the content of the notes. The player who accumulates the most titles classified in the correct category wins the game.
FOMO Syndrome : To exemplify the syndrome called Fear of Missing Out, students Alexandra López and Arturo Centeno recorded a video as a "social experiment" in which they asked a group of volunteers to participate in a dynamic that reflects the feelings of missing out on something because they don't have it with them or can't consult their phone, with this activity carried out in a couple of classes, the students seek to disseminate and above all educate about the existence of these phenomena to promote more critical thinking when consuming information in our daily lives. We recommend that you share this content with all your contacts, in order to contribute to the fight against disinformation and become a more critical society.
Our student Natalia Gámez, from the Bachelor's Degree in Nutrition, received a scholarship for an international stay in Porto Alegre, Brazil. She shares with us her student experience at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul.
When you entered Uni did you know there were international programs?
Yes, that is one of the reasons why I chose this university, because its curriculum is very complete and offers opportunities that help you to have a better professional formation.
When you entered your career, did you think you would go to live and study abroad?
It was always a goal that I wanted to accomplish during my stay at the University of Celaya, however, many times I saw the opportunity to study abroad far away, but thanks to not giving up and making my best effort, I was able to achieve it.
Have you ever lived or studied outside of Mexico before?
No, it was my first experience outside my country.
What prompted or motivated you to study in another country?
The desire to learn other study methods, another culture and acquire new knowledge for my career, which is the most important thing because it gives you another type of academic approach. And the experience of leaving your comfort zone, because separating from your parents, friends, and family for so many months, makes you value and change both professionally and personally.
Why did you decide to study in that country?
Primarily because in my career I am offered to study at the university in this country, however, what caught my attention was the culture and the language. As well as my career is focused on "Health Sciences" and Brazil is one of the main countries focused on health.
How did you feel when you arrived in the new country?
You feel many mixed feelings, not knowing the language, being out of your country, another different culture and adapting to the climate of the country. It was certainly one of my main problems when I arrived, but everything is a process of adaptation and you enjoy learning and it makes you stronger.
How have you been received at the university where you arrived?
It is a wonderful university in every sense of the word, it is very large, and very focused on student innovation, as well as its facilities, teachers, students, among many other opportunities that are offered to belong to this university "PUCRS" are excellent to grow professionally. As a student of academic mobility they offer you university friends and months before your arrival they contact you and make you feel special because they are always aware of your stay at the university, the teachers are very flexible; because they understand that you speak another language and it is not difficult for you to adapt so they give you your time and space. And something very human for which I am very grateful is that all the foreigners were supported with a basic food for these times of Covid19 and quarantine.
What will you miss most about Mexico and UNI?
I miss my family, friends and above all Mexican cuisine, because without a doubt there is no better food than Mexican food. The University of Celaya in my opinion is one of the best universities because I really like its curriculum, I miss my classes and my professors, because you already know them and you know the way they work, weightings, etc.
What is the most exciting thing you have experienced so far in this experience?
To get to know the beautiful places that this vast country has to offer, to meet new people with cultures very different from ours, to practice English and learn a very beautiful language such as Portuguese and the culture of this country, which is very beautiful and very emblematic.
And the hardest part?
At the beginning, learning the language and understanding the classes, as we all know, we had a difficult time because this pandemic was what changed my initial expectations, however, you adapt.
What do you expect as a person and as a professional from this experience?
I think that being away from your country is one of the fears that everyone has because you do not know what you are going to face, without your parents, makes you see life differently, to value; because many times we do not realize what we have if not until we are far away and you miss. Personally I matured in many areas of my life and professionally expanded my horizons, I learned and reinforced a lot of knowledge of nutrition, so now I feel like eating the world.
Do you recommend these opportunities provided by Uni to your colleagues?
Yes, these are unique opportunities that you will never regret and it leaves you wanting to go above and beyond, to give more than what is asked of you. I am so grateful for this opportunity!
