Florencia Vélez Funes es estudiante del primer año de la carrera de Analista de Sistemas de Computación, y como parte de un trabajo práctico final de la materia Ingles 1, nos cuenta su experiencia en un programa de Work & Travel en Estados Unidos.

Asimismo, nos comparte su opinión sobre lo que es el programa, características, consejos y una invitación a participar.

Por su parte, la profesora Mabel Luchetti, quien dicta la materia, opinó que “compartir la experiencia puede ser inspirador para muchos jóvenes"

Te compartimos las versiones en inglés y castellano.

Work and Travel

In the following text, I'll explain how the Work and Travel exchange program works, its characteristics, and what are the pros and cons of doing this program.

At the end of this text, I'll explain my experience and thoughts about doing an exchange program in the USA.

The work and travel program allows current university students to travel, live, and work during the summer break (December - March) in different countries, like the USA, Germany, Russia, Holland, and New Zealand.

Mainly, the jobs are around the ski center, because is during the winter season for them.

There you can find different job positions in both, the ski centers, and hotels, like a housekeeper, waitress, front desk, etc.

Also, you’ll need an agency that will help you to create a profile and find an employer. At the same time, they will help you to get all the papers that you'll need for your visa appointment in your country to travel to your destination country.

This kind of program has a lot of pros for the people who want to do it, like:

• You will be able to improve your second language during your time living in another country. Being in a place where people speak a different language from yours, it's a huge challenge but when time passes you will notice that you are getting better at speaking and listening.
• If you do this program, you will have the possibility to meet people from around the world.
• The cultural exchange that you will have during the 3 or 4 months living there will give you the possibility to learn about new cultures, traditions, languages, and a different lifestyle.
• This program allows students to stay for 30 more days after their contract is done, and they can use these days to travel around the country, to go to national parks or famous cities. This period is called a travel month or month of grace.
• You will have the opportunity of saving money if that is one of your goals and at the same time, you will gain working experience that will help you in the future.
• Working abroad and speaking a second language is something that you should add to your resume or cv.
• You will become more mature and independent after this program, living abroad and far from your family and traditions will help you to grow as a person.

Some "cons" that you may find when you do this program will be:

• It's a program that requires a big amount of money to realize.
• First, you need an agency that will help you to find a job, and with a visa. Your flights are not included when you paid for the agency and the extra fees for the visa.
• For most people who have never lived abroad, it's hard to adapt to a new lifestyle, language, and culture from another country in just 3 or 4 months. Also being far away from your family and friends could be difficult at the beginning because of the holidays during summer break.

From my own experience doing an exchange program, I´ll recommend doing a program like that one.

I was an au pair for the past two years, and I lived in different houses with 2 completely different families, in different states. I was just 19 years old when I went to the USA to live in another house with strangers, I'll not say that everything was perfect, but that is the idea of doing something like this, you'll prove to yourself that you are able to go out of your comfort zone and you can try new things and learn from all those experiences.

Living on your own or just the idea of being in another country by yourself and trying to do a program like this, it's already a good sign that you can and want to try new experiences.

You should try to do something like this when you feel that you are ready to do it and you have all the information needed, it’s an amazing experience that everybody should try at least once. 

Work & Travel en castellano

En el siguiente texto explicaré cómo funciona el programa de intercambio Work and Travel, sus características y cuáles son los pros y los contras de realizar este programa.

Al final de este texto, explicaré mi experiencia y pensamientos acerca de hacer un programa de intercambio en los Estados Unidos.

El programa de Work and Travel permite a los estudiantes universitarios actuales viajar, vivir y trabajar durante las vacaciones de verano (diciembre - marzo) en diferentes países, como EE. UU., Alemania, Rusia, Holanda y Nueva Zelanda.

Principalmente, los trabajos están relacionados a centros de esquí, porque es durante la temporada de invierno para ellos.

Allí se pueden encontrar diferentes puestos de trabajo tanto en los centros de esquí como en los hoteles, como ama de llaves, camarera, recepcionista, etc.

Además, necesitarás una agencia que te ayude a crear un perfil y encontrar un empleador. Al mismo tiempo, te ayudarán a obtener todos los documentos que necesitarás para la cita de tu visa en tu país para viajar a tu país de destino.

Este tipo de programa tiene muchas ventajas para las personas que quieren hacerlo, como:

El intercambio cultural que tendrás durante los 3 o 4 meses viviendo allí te dará la posibilidad de conocer nuevas culturas, tradiciones, idiomas y un estilo de vida diferente.

Trabajar en el extranjero y hablar un segundo idioma es algo que debes agregar a tu currículum o cv.

Algunos "contras" que te puedes encontrar al hacer este programa serán:

Primero, necesita una agencia que lo ayude a encontrar un trabajo y con una visa. Tus vuelos no están incluidos cuando pagaste la agencia y los extras de la visa.

Desde mi propia experiencia, habiendo hecho un programa de intercambio, recomendaría hacer un programa como ese.

Fui “au pair” durante los últimos dos años y viví en diferentes casas con 2 familias completamente diferentes, en diferentes estados. Tenía apenas 19 años cuando me fui a USA a vivir en otra casa con extraños, no diré que todo fue perfecto, pero esa es la idea de hacer algo así, te demostrarás a vos mismo que sos capaz de salir de tu zona de confort y podés probar cosas nuevas y aprender de todas esas experiencias.

Vivir solo o simplemente la idea de estar solo en otro país e intentar hacer un programa como este, ya es una buena señal de que puedes y quieres probar nuevas experiencias.

Debes intentar hacer algo como esto cuando sientas que estás listo para hacerlo y tengas toda la información necesaria, es una experiencia increíble que todos deberían probar al menos una vez.

Velez Funes, María Florencia