i am very grateful I had the opportunity to study abroad in Havana, Cuba during my time in NYU undergrad. There, I not only got to study the importance of travel writing and photography under my incredible professor, Alexis Gambis, but also got to form close relationships and meet so many different people. There are a lot of reasons as to why this trip changed how I think, but one of the major ways Cuba affected my mindset was how it opened my eyes to what it means to live in a country without a first-world consumer culture. goods and commodities like food, gas, clothes, money, and especially internet are limited and not as easily accessible as in the United States. It made me recognize even the smallest things I have in my life are a privilege.
