Hey everyone! My name is Caitlin Williams and I am currently studying abroad in Barcelona, Spain for 6 weeks.
I chose to study abroad because of the amazing opportunity it gives students to be immersed in another culture, language, and lifestyle for a period of time while also working toward getting job experience or their degree!
In preparing for going abroad, it was extremely helpful to make several lists and to double-check all the necessary tasks I needed to do before departing. Brushing up on my Spanish skills, spending quality time with my loved ones, and ensuring I had a way to communicate with them while I was gone was very important to me. As I left I felt extremely excited but also a little sad to leave my favorite people behind! For me, headphones, a blanket, my Polaroid, and workout bands were essential for my travels!
Focusing on finding things I wanted to see and do while in Barcelona helped me to be attentive to the positives of leaving rather than the negatives. I hope to gain more language skills, a newfound love for another culture, and a wider perspective of people in general while abroad. I want to be ambitious and bold in my food choices and say yes to as much as I can over the next month or so!
If you are considering going abroad, even for a few weeks, I say do it. You will only have more things stopping you or making it easier to say no in the future. It truly is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
