Creating an International Life
Mary Helen Pombo '08 graduated with a dual degree in International Studies and French, the ability to speak five languages, and a desire to build a career as a globally connected citizen of the world. Regardless of where life brings her, she is clear in her overarching goal. "I want to exercise the skills I learned at the College in order to develop further insight into our global society," she said.
Mary Helen was destined to live an international life. Her grandparents are Portuguese but moved to Angola where both of Mary Helen's parents were born. Because of political strife, the family returned to Portugal and then emigrated to the United States. "I was born in the U.S. to a family whose dominant language is Portuguese, so that was my first language," she said. Mary Helen grew up in Wethersfield and started school as an English-as-a-Second-Language student.
Summers abroad
"All while I was growing up, we maintained a traditional European household," she said. "Every Sunday, we would sit around the dinner table and talk politics and world events." Mary Helen attributes those conversations to her fascination with the greater world. "I became very interested in what was happening in places beyond my hometown. During the summer, I would go with my grandmother to Portugal and spend time with her family and circle of friends," Mary Helen recalled. Summers in a foreign country coupled with stories of life in Angola influenced Mary Helen's thinking.
A fascination with languages
Fluent in both English and Portuguese, Mary Helen's fascination with languages continued to develop and she studied Spanish and French in school. Just as she was beginning to think of life after high school, she met Maryam Wassil-Wardak '03, a Saint Joseph College student who was student teaching in her history class. Encouraged by her guidance counselor, Mary Helen visited the College and met Dr. Shyamala Raman, professor of Economics and International Studies. "As soon as I met Dr. Raman and realized how challenging her program was, I understood that she was going to guide me and prepare me for my path after college," she said. "Yet, little did I know at the time how far she would go to inspire me to become a critical thinker, a globally aware citizen and a lifelong learner."
Living and studying abroad
During her four years at the College, she pursued all available options. In addition to maintaining her studies in French and Spanish, she studied Arabic at Trinity College through the Hartford Consortium. She also fulfilled her dream of studying abroad by completing not one, but two academic programs in two different countries. Mary Helen spent a full academic year in France at the Institute of the American Universities in Aix-en-Provence, followed by a summer semester in Alicante and Seville, Spain. She even spent a week in Turkey pursuing research for a paper on the Turkish military.
Mary Helen appreciates the ways in which the College's International Studies curriculum prepared her for success. "Every course teaches you the topic from multiple perspectives," she said. "When we would discuss globalization, for example, it always tied into economic, political, social and cultural factors. The sequence of courses gave me a wonderful foundation in the field and I can't wait to go out in the world, apply what I've learned and continue learning."
