I knew as soon as I began my sophomore year at UA that I wanted to spend the summer abroad. My freshman year, I studied abroad for the first time and spent a month exploring Asia. We went to China and Vietnam, parts of the world I never dreamt that I would see, and it was the best trip of my life. Now I couldn’t wait to do that again and was honestly eager to go anywhere and everywhere, which made choosing out of the hundreds of programs that UA offers a challenge.
However, I made the choice that a place where I could practice my Spanish would be the best option for me, and a wonderful program seem to fall into my lap: UA in Spain Language and Culture . Even though my indecisiveness had allowed it to get late into the application deadline, I contacted the director right away and was luckily able to quickly ensure a spot on the program. It felt surreal. Just like with my first study abroad, it didn’t register that I was actually going to be spending a month in Spain until I was boarding the plane and the excitement built up inside of me.
I had no idea what to expect. Obviously, the smart thing to do before any study abroad is to research where you are staying, figure out the resources you have around you, and look up the coolest and funnest things to do so you can take advantage of all the time that you are there. However, I am someone who enjoys a certain element of surprise, so I did none of those things! But no matter how you prepare, study abroads will certainly be some of the greatest adventures of your life. I truly believe there’s no better time to travel and see the world than in college where you have scholarships and programs and familiar people to go with you and, most importantly, time that isn’t consumed by work and obligations. So, I highly recommend that everyone at UA takes advantage and tries their best to study abroad at least once in their time there. I was pleasantly surprised by Spain, and once again had a marvelous experience with my program. I can’t wait to study abroad again next summer.
