As the plane landed at the Buenos Aires airport, the runway lights’ blinking couldn’t match Rachel Bock’s fastened heartbeat.
She wondered where the high-rise buildings were and why she couldn’t see a McDonalds or Starbucks nearby. The plane’s tunnel led her into a blur of people speaking only Spanish. Rachel followed the baggage claim signs with difficulty, barely remembering the language she learned the last five years. Spanish isn’t so easy when there’s no teacher to translate or classmate to for help.
English, good grades and small-town Kansas roots would be no help to Rachel in Argentina. Even as her heart raced and she realized this foreign land would be home for months, Rachel felt more excitement than fear. Other cultures had always interested her, and though she was alone this time, Rachel went to Brazil a year before. She was afraid but definitely ready.
A senior this year at KU, Rachel grew up in Wyandotte, a small county outside Kansas City, Kan. She came to KU already exposed to diversity, though. Her high school class at Sumner Academy wasn’t more than 150 students, but Rachel says she probably knew at least one classmate from almost that many countries.
“Growing up near Kansas City, most people think going to a foreign country at the age I am would be incredibly scary,” Bock said. “But I didn’t grow up in the typical Kansas town, either. I went to a high school with kids of just about every race or ethnicity you can think of.”
Rachel began taking Spanish classes in eighth grade, but her contact with other cultures didn’t stop there. She resisted the white, middle-class society that dominates much of Kansas City and embraced everyone she met. Rachel developed friendships that can only work through acceptance, not judgment. One of Rachel’s classmates at Sumner and now KU, senior Julie Vinh, became instant friends with Rachel.
“Rachel is definitely accepting of everyone,” Vinh said. “I think that’s what set her apart from others. I am Vietnamese and have never been ashamed of that, and unlike most kids, Rachel was never ashamed of it, either. She likes people for who they are, not what they are.”
With early cultural exposure and ongoing Spanish education, it didn’t take long for Rachel to start thinking about the world outside of Kansas.
“I always thought about going abroad in high school,” she said. “After my Spanish class went to Spain, after graduation, for three weeks, I knew I wanted to go to other places. I became really interested in gaining different cultural perspectives.”
In the summer of 2005, Rachel studied Portuguese for three months in Vitoria, Brazil. She recently returned from a five-month stay in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Julie wishes Rachel would try to stay closer to home more often.
“She travels a lot so that can cut into our closeness as friends,” Vinh said. “But, I’m happy for her. She’s experiencing things that most people never get to experience.”
Just like she was ready to get off that plane in Buenos Aires, Rachel feels she’s ready for just about anything by this point.
“I feel like I could move to any city around the world and be just fine,” she said. “Other cultures no longer intimidate me. They fascinate me.”