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Angela Rohal

Bio Summary
Cohort Year: 
2012
Home Institution: 
University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg
Heinz Programming Area: 
Arts & Culture
Study Abroad Country: 
Costa Rica
International Experience

Angela Rohal had two main goals in mind as she spent nearly three months in San Pedro, Costa Rica. The first was to become fluent in Spanish which she cultivated in classes that met five times a week. A second similar goal was to learn about Costa Rican culture. She lived with a host family that taught her about culture and supported her through her struggles with the language barrier. Traveling throughout the country gave her the opportunity to communicate with many other Costa Ricans about their daily lives. One afternoon, she spent time with a Costa Rican family who taught her how to dance salsa. In response, Angela learned that dancing is a very important part of Costa Rican culture and who they are as a people.

Community Engagement Experience
CEE Title: 
Our Community is Everywhere

For her CEE Our Community is Everywhere, Angela helped create a PowerPoint presentation that highlighted natural disasters in Haiti, Japan, Costa Rica, and the Horn of Africa. After showing a short clip entitled Fault Lines- Horn of Africa Crisis: Drought Zone, Angela and her teammate went into greater detail on the status of disaster victims in Haiti, Costa Rica, and Japan. From devastating images to startling facts and statistics, the team of two encouraged the audience to become more globally involved during times of natural disasters.

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