Luisa Garcia Vega '15
Marketing with studio art minor
At her Christian high school in Guatemala City, Guatemala, Luisa Garcia Vega '15 had heard plenty of good things about Messiah College 3,000 miles away. In fact, when she arrived on the Grantham campus in the fall of 2011 as a first-year student, five of her Guatemalan classmates were already enrolled here. Attending school in the U.S. was a dream come true for her and her family.
"Both of my parents went to school in Guatemala," she said. "They were super encouraging but unclear of how all of this was going to happen. God was really faithful and always provided what I needed to make [attending Messiah a reality]. Looking back now, Messiah is just like home."
When she first arrived, however, the Intercultural Office helped her shop for the clothes necessary to survive a Central Pennsylvania winter. "I had no coat, no proper shoes," she said. "The seasons-I love to see such quick changes. It was a lot more than I expected it to be. I was scared about the cultural difference, the language. I was used to having a TV with a soccer game on in Guatemala City. It was cool to come to a school where everyone was willing to go to a soccer game."
She says her first year involved getting up to speed with college life. In her sophomore year, she took on small leadership positions that led to larger ones, such as the chair of Eyas and the director of the World Christian Fellowship (WCF) student organization through the Agapé Center. WCF hosts chapel programs and raises funds for international mission trips.
During a semester abroad in Rome, she studied art history, photography, Italian and literature and-tangentially-architecture. "You could stand in one corner of the city and see medieval, baroque and renaissance buildings on one block. I learned so much about history and people."
Although she might stay in the U.S. to work in event planning, Garcia says her dream job would be to return to Guatemala to promote the beauty of her home country. "Volun-tourism-marketing the country-is a way that people can engage with the culture and feel a personal connection instead of just going to the beach."
She says she will miss the daily connections with her friends on campus. "Even if you stay in the area, you won't see everyone every day walking to class. Differences are not an obstacle for friendships. There's always a commonality. Ours is Messiah."