Eric Buenrostro decided to study abroad this year before he even knew where the USC Price School of Public Policy would take students for the Maymester program, in which students tackle real-life policy challenges in another city.
“I was going to do it no matter where the location was going to be simply because, as a first- generation student who comes from a low-income background, I have never had the chance to do something like this,” Buenrostro said.
The location – Buenos Aires – turned out to be perfect. Buenrostro, whose family hails from Latin America, speaks Spanish and served as an informal translator for his fellow students. The lifelong soccer fan also got to watch the Argentina national team – including the great Lionel Messi – play against Colombia. He even played a pickup soccer game at a barbeque with locals.
“That was a beautiful experience,” said Buenrostro, a Master of Public Administration (MPA) student.
Buenrostro is one of 16 USC Price School students who recently completed a two-week trip to Buenos Aires, where they examined policy options addressing the nexus between the formal and informal sectors in housing, land, labor, and other topics.
The trip was an immersive experience that made students feel like they were more than tourists. They collaborated with peers from the School of Government at the University of Tocuato Di Tella. They heard lectures from local politicians and met street vendors who worked in the informal sector. A local professor hosted them for a house party.
“We often took the subway. We were eating empanadas and their local pizza. We even were able to get coffee and have meals with other Argentinian students in our class,” said Sophia Caesar, who recently graduated with a Master of Urban Planning (MUP). “I would say practicing Spanish and living that kind of lifestyle for two weeks was another way to see policy in action.”
Their research culminated with a 20-minute video essay comparing how Los Angeles and Buenos Aires address formal and informal sectors through public policy. For example, Buenrostro, who works for a L.A. nonprofit that offers loans to microbusinesses, interviewed street vendors in Buenos Aires and noted how such financing could help them grow their businesses, too. Caesar focused on climate issues, finding that Buenos Aires’s informal neighborhoods could benefit from cooling stations that L.A. installed near homeless encampments during heat waves.
“The audience for this final presentation comprised local academics and practitioners who are working on related topics – many of whom had also made presentations to the students during our first week here,” said Professor Eric Heikkila, who helped organize the Maymester. “It is fair to say that these local experts were astonished that our students could research and produce this video policy essay in just 12 days.”
It’s also fair to say the trip was an unforgettable experience for the students.
“This was my last class ever at Price, and it was amazing,” Caesar said. “Two weeks in another place to count toward a class? I mean, how can you say no to that?”
