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College
puts unique spin on venerable program
 When Alison Hawkins ’97 gets married
this May, her family—including her younger sister Jackie ’06—will
be in attendance. Also present will be Alison and Jackie’s
Spanish “family,” with whom Alison lived in Palma
de Mallorca , Spain , during her junior-year abroad experience
from 1995-96 and with whom Jackie is currently staying.
The connections between the two families—Manuela
Arcos-Fernandez, her husband Juan Pocovi, and their
two children, Juan Pocovi-Arcos and Cristina Pocovi-Arcos—have
endured and deepened over the past 10 years.
“I have stayed in close contact with them,” Alison
says. “Manuela and I write letters to each other, and
we also communicate via e-mail. I have been back to visit
three times since I lived there. I have tickets to go back
again in March to visit the family and my sister, Jackie.”
“I am the youngest of four kids, so I have always
hated the phrase following in someone’s footsteps,” Jackie
says. “I came to the decision [to do a junior-year
abroad] all on my own after I decided to major in Spanish—however,
when it came time for me to tell my family that I was going
to Spain, I did feel really obligated to go to Palma where
my sister had been since she still was in contact with her
family and spoke so highly of her experience there.”
“I was definitely nervous to meet the family, but
I was still confident that we would be a good match,” Jackie
continues. “And I have been very lucky that it has
been a good match thus far. The kids in my family are a lot
older now, so it’s different in many respects from
when Alison was here. I actually go out a lot with my brother,
Juan, who is 18.”
The sisters both studied at the Universitat
de les Illes Balears, which is located near the center
of Palma . While sustaining a student population of 10,000,
the University features small classes, which are taught
in Catalan and
Castilian. While Jackie finishes up her JYA experience,
Alison is studying at the Yale School of Nursing.
More on study abroad is this issue
No Accidental Tourism in Study Abroad >
Sisters Abroad >
Edmond Yip '05: from
the Northeastern U.S. to Northeastern China >
Study Abroad: The Facts >
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