Meet Oscar Ceballos
At Verto Education, the Program Director is a key member of the on-site experience. Responsible for the day-to day management of all Verto Education programs at each site, the Program Director leads all student support functions, including, housing, health & safety, and Verto study center administration.
In this blog post, we interview Verto Education Spain Program Director, Oscar Ceballos!
What’s your background, and what brought you to Verto Education?
I was born and raised in Seville where I attended college and graduated from the School of Fine Arts in 1989. I have also studied Philosophy and hold a PhD on Aesthetics from the University of Seville. During the 90s and early 2000s, I worked as a professional artist and lived a number of years in London, UK. Upon settling back in Seville, I started teaching courses for US college students abroad at several organizations, eventually working on the design of different programs, mainly focussed on the areas of Spanish and Communications, and acting as academic director.
In the summer of 2021, I was given the unique opportunity to start developing the Verto study center in Seville together with a group of highly motivated colleagues. The journey we have shared so far has been challenging but really rewarding.
What are some of the academic highlights of your location?
In order to prepare students for a strong start to college, Verto Spain offers dynamic programming delivered by experienced faculty in a community-based setting together with outstanding participant support services. Amongst the different areas that can be highlighted, two stand out:
- The team of educators—faculty and staff alike—who collaborate very closely to model lifelong learning in a robust and inclusive learning community; and
- Place-based learning so that meaningful lines are drawn through a great variety of curricular and co-curricular initiatives to connect the students to the social, cultural, and political fabric of Seville’s various communities.
Participants leave Seville as socially conscious and globally aware individuals who are attuned to the impact of their education on both local and global communities.
How do students learn about themselves on your site? How do they learn about the world around them?
Just to provide a key example of how students are supported and encouraged to learn about themselves in Seville, a core component of our co-curricular design are the Self-Discovery Labs, small pedagogical units delivered during four to five weekly sessions which are designed by faculty and facilitated by Student Success Coordinators. These labs empower participants to achieve personal growth and academic maturity while enhancing their capacity for critical analysis in an always safe but nonetheless challenging environment. The expert facilitation of Verto Spain’s educators prompts participants to reflect on their life’s journey so far and take action to achieve their goals.
What does support for students look like on-site?
In addition to the set of services that keep our students healthy, safe, and engaged with their new environment, student support at Verto Spain is also defined by the multiple mechanisms that make all of us—students, faculty, and staff alike—co-responsible for the construction of our learning community. Every staff member at Verto Spain—whether they work in or out of the classroom—is an educator who helps our students become valued contributors to a community which must be inclusive, open, and conducive to permitting each individual to find their best selves in a world they share with others.
What would you say to a student considering a semester in Seville with Verto? What is your favorite thing about your location?
Seville is a very welcoming and a very beautiful city, it thrives with history, culture, and art, and it is one of the most enriching environments a college student can have. Its different communities and social contexts don’t lack complexity, and can, at times, be challenging. Luckily, all faculty and staff members at Verto Spain have very strong bonds with the social landscape and the culture of the city; many of us were born and grew up here. Our love for the city and our respect for its communities is knowledge that we share with our students, so that they can also call Seville their home. Thus, my favorite thing about Seville is that it is home.
Want to see if a Verto start to college can work for you? Apply today to get started.
*** Note: Specific programming and activities are subject to change semester by semester.
