Sabrina Boral

Introduction & Background

Sabrina Taylor Boral is a recent 2021 alumna of Miami University. She studied Communications and Art Management with a minor in Spanish. She was heavily involved in Pi Sigma Epsilon and Public Relations Student Society of America and will be starting a job at Bloomberg in San Francisco in the summer of 2022.

 

Sabrina was born in New York but later moved to Chagrin Falls, Ohio in June 2005. She was raised by both of her parents who were also from New York. However, her father had grown up with his parents who were born in Bolivia, and spent the majority of his summers in Bolivia and even lived there for a year.

 

Boral’s grandparents chose to migrate to New York from Bolivia in 1969 to go to college, when Boral’s father was born. Although Boral’s grandparents managed to visit Bolivia quite often, they never considered going back after establishing their family and life in the United States.

 

Growing Up and Traveling to Bolivia

Growing up, Boral did not research current events, but rather learned of them from her father in open conversation. Oftentimes, he is aware of what is going on in the news, but he also gains perspectives on certain events because of how they are impacting his own family. She also had a cousin of hers visit when she was younger, and her father prepared her with general cultural information (kissing on the cheek, friendliness, etc.) about Bolivia in the months leading up to her arrival. This struck up conversation not only in her immediate family, but also opened the doors to conversations with her grandparents. All of this helped prepare Boral well for an exciting trip she planned for herself to visit Bolivia.

 

Boral was finally able to make her first trip to Bolivia in February of 2022. Before she visited, there had just been a revolution (against Evo Morales’s administration) in Bolivia due to the corruption in their country. So when she arrived in Santa Cruz, she was able to witness history in action.

 

“When I was there, they had something called a ‘paro’ (strike) and it’s when the whole city stops for 24 hours and nothing’s open, you can’t drive your car, no one goes to school, no one goes to work.”

 

The paro was created to demonstrate a sign of frustration that Bolivian citizens are feeling towards the government. By not going to work or supporting any local businesses, they are putting a halt on their economy, showing that they can negatively impact the economy just as they themselves are being negatively impacted.

 

Not only did she learn a bit more about the current events impacting Bolivia, but also how people in her country looked at the United States. She mentions that they are very aware of our politics and have strong opinions about certain political views in the States, such as having a preference for Trump over other presidential candidates. They also found interest in general differences in culture such as what Boral does for fun (such as cooking, spending time with friends and her dog, etc.) and what it is like to go to school far away from her family.

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Gained Experience in Bolivia

Visiting Bolivia was a growing experience for Boral, but she also benefited so much emotionally. She noticed how the environment was much more laid back and appreciated the slower pace she found in Bolivia.

 

“I think the culture there is very relaxed and people are not as uptight, it’s not as fast-paced there. And I miss how all the families live right by each other, we don’t have that in Ohio. And it’s like an open-door policy [...] They’re really warm and welcoming.”

 

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