Tara Beech- University of Pittsburgh

My name is Tara Beech.  I graduated this spring from Pitt with a degree in political science.  I studied abroad in Argentina with AIFS in Buenos Aires .  I am 26 and a non-traditional student.  I started school in 2004, once my bipolar disorder was completely under control.  I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2001, after I had already begun attending my first university.  I enrolled myself in psychiatric program at Western Psychological Institute and Clinic on campus, and began seeing psychologists and psychiatrists regularly in order to moderate medication, test and try medication until my moods became stable enough to return to school   After three years of treatment, I started back at the University of Pittsburgh after controlling the disability in 2004.  I still had a little trouble, but after I began working with the Disability Resource and Services, they began showing me how to work with my disability.  When you have a psychological break, you tend to alienate your friends, family and everyone around you.   You lose jobs or fail out of school, like I did.  If you have nobody to help you get back on your feet, you are not going to do it.  I remember my teacher gave me an incomplete in her class, and made me go to the disability center.  She made me register with them.  If I did not have the DRS or study abroad office helping me and telling me I was OK, I would not have been able to do it.  My friends and my family misdiagnosed my psychological break as irresponsibility and that I did not have the potential to do this.  Support networks are very necessary.

Interview Transcript

How was the situation with your medications? I was very worried about taking my medication with me because there is no publication that tells you it is OK.  It is very difficult to find Argentina telling you what you are allowed to bring, so I worked with my psychologist, my disability advisor, and the study abroad office to find new ways to learn about ways to bring it over, what documentation I need, etc.  One problem that I had was that I received my medication through a program because I cannot pay for it.  I can’t get a bunch of medication in advance.  That was a big issue for me because I couldn’t pay for prescriptions abroad or upfront here in the States.  I had to get all of them before I left, and then I had to make sure that because they didn’t have my name on them that I would be able to take them across the border.  Can you please tell us about your experience at Pitt and your accommodations at your home school? I first enrolled at the College of General Studies at Pitt on academic probation because my grades at California University were not as good as I would have liked.  After proving myself to the University, I gained admission to the College of Arts and Sciences.  From there, still having trouble with academics, I found the Disability Resource and Services and began to improve in my academic career. When I first went to DRS, there was a lot of paperwork and a lot of documenting to be completed in the very beginning.   There was a lot of work, but once we muddled through it, they really began to show me how to expect twists and turns that would happen with a person with a behavioral disorder.  Instead of making excuses or asking for exceptions, I began to learn to account for missing classes and handing things in late.  My grades went up and I really improved. When did you start thinking about studying abroad? I started college in 1998, and I had friends who studied abroad while I took my break.  From them and their experiences, I knew that it was something I had to do.  At that point I wasn’t sure if it was something I could do, but I knew it was something that I really wanted to do. When I came to Pitt, I knew of the Study Abroad Office through word-of-mouth of friends who had used their services previously.  I came and had information from talks and chats with the advisors in the resource area.  I began to talk with my disability advisor to see if that was possible.  My disability advisor, Noreen, informed that it was very possible for me to study abroad, and that there was a bridge being formed between the SAO and the DRS.  They would be more than willing to set up a meeting with me with advisors from the study abroad office during my regular disability advising appointments. How long did it take you to plan your program? I began looking to study abroad and discussed it with my disability advisor a year in advance.  There were a lot of factors I wanted to accommodate, such as testing accommodations, financial issues since I’m an older student that is on my own and needs to worry about rent, bills and insurance.  It took me a long time to work those issues out. What led you to Argentina and AIFS? As a political science major, I wanted to study abroad in a place that had a rich history.  I actually was leaning towards Venezuela at the time because the current events were rich in politics.  When I met with Carol and Leslie during my advising appointments, they pointed out to me that Argentina had such a rich political history and at the same time was well known for their psychological facilities.  Culturally it was a very good place for me to be accepted for my disability.  How did you come to choose AIFS? The Study Abroad Office here knows the facilities very well.  Leslie knows the director and the available facilities for me.  She knew where she was sending me to, and even the host families.  I felt comfortable, knowing what I was getting myself into, knowing that if I had problems or questions, she knew who to ask and talk to in Argentina . What were prior arrangements made before you arrived in Argentina ? My director was aware of my disability, as was the assistant director.  I am unsure if my host family was aware.  However, when it did come up in conversation, it was so casual and it was fine with them.  I had very informal support on site.  I was very lucky.  My director was a wonderful man, who would listen to any questions or problems I had with adjustment.  The assistant director had a degree in psychology and was able to talk to me about what I was going through and how to handle it.  In addition, my host sister worked with disabled students and understood what I was going through.  What did you do when you were under stress from your disability while abroad? My first month or two in Argentina , it was too new to feel any stress or a shock or problem.  Once I began to feel like Argentina was my home, I started to change.  The stresses of people not being able to understand me in the street was hard.  I failed my placement Spanish test because the stress was too much.  They placed me in a class for beginners.  After talking with the professor who administrated the test, they were willing to move me up because they knew I could handle it.  They agreed to give me a final test in a controlled environment by myself. What was the anxiety you were feeling? When I started to get really stressed due to lack of understanding, it was because I get in a cab and go in the wrong direction because I mispronounced a street name or I would ask for my food to go and the servers would throw it away because they didn’t understand me.  It was much more stressful for me, and it took a big toll on me.  For a month, I became depressed and began lying to my family to tell them that I was sick so I could stay in bed longer on the weekends.  I started missing a little bit of school.  Until I started talking to my host sister about my problems, I didn’t talk to anyone.  Fortunately, I did and the assistant director helped me get back on my feet.  After about a month of depression and talking it out with directors, students and my family, I was fine. It took a bit of time, but I eventually got out of the funk. Can you tell us about AIFS and your university? I chose AIFS for a lot more reasons.  I had a listing of different programs and many things were important to me.  An urban campus was important.  For somebody with a disability, we like to have access to certain facilities and services as well as be around people who are more likely to have come in contact with someone with my disability and can understand it better.  Other things I looked at were classroom services; where the University of Buenos Aires has 300,000 students, the University of Belgrano was much smaller and I knew the classroom sizes would be much smaller.  Those were other issues for me.  I was very happy with the university.  It is very different than American universities, but its something you need to get accustomed to.  It is more difficult sometimes for a student with a disability because in the beginning you think that it’s you, or your mishaps, or your problems, and you take it on a little stronger than other people.  The inability to administrate, or live in Argentina in general, well, once you get used to it and realize that other students are going through the same thing, it gets much easier. What suggestions do you have for a student with a similar disability with a desire to study abroad? I would advise a student with a disability like mine to understand that they have a right to ask for any accommodation that they need, and they should not be afraid to ask.  I think that sometimes I was afraid to tell people that I was slipping, and if I would have told them it would not have happened to the extent that it did.  If I would have had regular appointments with doctors, they could have noticed.  Things I took for granted in the United States , all the supports, I was not ready to be without it.  For other students with behavioral disorders, you need support around you.  If people don’t know you have the behavioral disorder, they’ll misdiagnose it as irresponsibility, laziness or a character flaw.  They absolutely have to know that you have a disorder, or they are going to judge you. I would encourage students to tell people about their past; if you tell people what you went through to get stable, they will understand what might happen if you are not.  You can’t not tell someone that this might happen because you don’t want it to or you think it will happen if you say something.  You have to be open with your director, and tell them what you have and what might happen if you regress.  They knew I had a disorder, but didn’t understand until I stopped showing up for events, or freaked out over money, or started truly stressing out about classes.  They misunderstood at first because I wasn’t open about it, but as soon as I explained what was going on, everything changed and was a fine.  But there was a period there when it was not fine. How has study abroad impacted the direction of your life? Study abroad has added to this block that I have been building since I began my education.  It helped people that can’t do it on our own; none of can do it on our own.  We need people who have been through things who can tell future students that its possible, they can achieve their goals.  That is what I want to do with my career, my life.  I want to work with students, especially under-represented students and students with disabilities, students with financial issues, students from the lower classes – all different kinds of students.  They need to understand they can do these things; I want to be their positive role model because I did these things too.