Agustin Vizcaino '05

Born: Quito, Ecuador.

High School: Overseas Family School, Singapore.

Has lived in: Quito, Ecuador and Singapore.

Major: Economics and International Affairs

Agustin is a third-culture-kid (TCK) who left Ecuador when he was 14 years old and moved with his family to Singapore. He graduated in 2002 from Overseas Family School where he was enrolled in a full International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum. Agustin credits his IB courses for his good preparation for the rigour of Lewis & Clark. "I took really tough IB courses in high school because I wanted to challenge myself. The IB courses were a great preparation for all of the reading and papers that I do for my L&C classes."

Agustin quickly discovered his interest in Internationa Relations. Agustin's favorite course thus far in that department was International Relations of Northeast Asia taught by Stephen Lambo. "I initially signed up for the course because I was looking for something in international relations. I kind of stumbled upon it. It is a great lecture class and I love maps. We had all kinds of maps used in the course and I love cartography." As for his favorite professor, "I would have to say Professor Cliff Bekar of Economics. He taught the Econ 100 class in my freshman year and he was great. I even signed up for Inventing America with Professor Bekar. And, now I am in his Economic History of the Industrial Revolution. It's a tough course with huge amounts of reading and papers every other week. I love the challenge."

Agustin has lived all over campus. He recalls Hartzfeld hall to be a great place to live. He says it is "more like an apartment and right in the center of my friends." His roommate was on the L&C basketball team and has made quite an impression on Agustin. "He emailed me in the summer before school started and said not to be intimidated when I first saw him. I was really worried at first. He is 7 feet tall! He is a really big guy. But, he is great. We like the same music and the same food. He even lets us borrow his car."

In his "spare time," Agustin tries to keep busy. As a first-year student, Agustin became a board member for the ISLC (Internatonal Students at Lewis & Clark). "I wanted to be involved and I thought that I might have something to contribute." Agustin also works as a Spanish language tutor and enjoys the time he spends helping L&C students with their pronunciation and grammar. Agustin plays on the soccer team, which is a "club sport" at Lewis & Clark. "We take it seriously. We play in a collegiate league and in the premier league of Oregon, which includes the Nike team. So far we have won one and lost two, but we are getting better.

In his last two years at L&C Agustin wrote two theses: one for the Economics major, and one for International Affairs. Double-majoring can be difficult, but worth the effort.

Agustin graduated in May 2005, and is currently in Singapore. Here is what he has to say about his post-graduate life:

Soon after graduating I was unsure about my immediate plans. The fact that they all involved very different paths, in very different and far away locations didn’t make the decision easier for me. At first I chose to remain in Portland. The option seemed initially viable. However, I soon realized it was important for me to be closer to my family. This has taken me to Singapore, and after a long job hunting process I have found employment with a Multinational insurance company so I am here (in Singapore) to stay for the time being. It seems like a great job opportunity, especially for an entry level position, and I am really happy for the break.

My future plans depend on the job advancement opportunities that arise within the company I will soon be joining. What I would like the most would be if they sent me back to the U.S. or somewhere in South America. They have offices all over the world so hopefully in a year or two a transfer opportunity will arise. In all honesty, I would be very happy if they would be willing to send me to some other place; somewhere I have not planned on going. That would be a great experience. Besides, having already lived in a few places I am sure I would feel quite at home in most places, so long as I do not need to learn a new language very quickly… I am a slow learner when it comes to that. Besides from job plans, I have no other plans… just some ideas, for example, I would love to travel around South America sometime soon… and I would like to visit my friends in Portland sometime this year or in early 2007. Also, I am starting to learn the joys (and struggles) associated with learning to play golf. But probably the best part of this new chapter in my life is having become an uncle a few months ago and being able to see my nephew several times a week.

Home is Singapore at the moment, though I cannot wait till I go back to Ecuador, be it for business, pleasure or preferably both!