 Maria Elena Gutierrez Herazo
Maria Elena Gutierrez Herazo is originally from Lima, Peru. She is currently earning her Master’s degree at the University of Maryland. The United States government granted her a Fulbright scholarship to study at CELOP in the summer of 2005.
My sponsor, The International Institute of Education (IIE), chose to send me to CELOP for two main reasons:
- CELOP is ranked highest by IIE amongst English education institutions.
- CELOP has a 9-week program which fulfilled all of my necessary requirements. This is an ideal program for international students who are not only interested in improving their English skills but also want to know more about US culture.
CELOP has modern equipment and a highly organized structure. The facility gives an excellent quality of education and the staff is highly skilled and very friendly.
At CELOP, I greatly improved my speaking and writing skills. In addition, I learned to deal with the inevitable cultural shock that occurs when people live in a foreign country.
I will always remember my classmates and teacher, my friends on Bay State Road (in my Boston neighborhood), trips with my class, the recreation and fitness center (where I learned how to play squash and racquetball), The Sit-Com club, and touring Boston.
My teachers were really good and very professional. I was lucky because my core class teacher, Margo Downey, was a great professor. She has a background in law and sociology, and her teaching brought the level of the discussion in class to a higher level as well as motivated the permanent participation of all the students. This was the first time in my experience learning English that I found a class to be both challenging and amusing. Additionally, my teacher of the elective class “writing skills” was a well prepared and organized professional.
I strongly recommend CELOP to people interested in improving their English skills. My time in Boston and at CELOP was exciting and full of new knowledge and experiences. If I had enough time and resources I would definitely like to return to CELOP.
When I first arrived in Boston, I was homesick. I was very sad and depressed because I missed my family, friends and my country. I was a little scared to try different food, visit new places and meet new people. Maybe worse, I felt ashamed to go out and practice my English, especially with native speakers. But then the CELOP organization and activities encouraged me to deal with all of these concerns in a positive way. I started to get out more and thus I started to enjoy my new life, make friends and take advantage of the amazing facilities at Boston University. After that, when I arrived at Maryland where I now live, I was more familiar with US customs and I felt more confident in discovering new experiences and beginning my new life.
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