Category Archives: Study abroad

Why I decided to study abroad

Studying abroad has become an extremely popular activity that students in college will do. Over 1,200 students at UMass participate in these programs of studying in another continent. Studying abroad has been something that I have always wanted to do. My dad studied abroad in Argentina when he was in college and he says how it is something that he will never forget. My roommate is an engineer and he has a small window for him to go abroad. His schedule only allows him to go during his sophomore year and he could only pick from a few schools, while being a Spanish major has really given me flexibility to be able to pick a program that I like and have an option to pick between multiple countries to study in as well. Continue reading →

How to Know What Country to Pick

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Picking what country I would spend about 6 months in was one of the hardest decisions I have had to make. Why? Because of course you never know if you will have another opportunity to go to this country or spend that much time there. One thing I will advise you to do is make a list of goals first, then make a list of places where you think you can achieve these goals best. You have to realize what do you want to take out of this experience. For one if it’s to actually learn the language ensure yourself that you will be somewhere that many people don’t choose for study abroad. The reason being that you will be with many other students who potentially speak English. If that does occur odds are that you will be speaking more English, you may not challenge yourself as much to go out and find locals and make these great connections with new people. Remember that making these connections is key. That’s how you learn about the culture, feel what it’s like to be a local and essential learn things about yourself that you have never known before. Personally, I would do study abroad alone and somewhere not many people I know have chosen to go. That’s exactly what I did. I chose Florianopolis, Brazil. It was honestly one of the best decisions of my life and the happiest life-changing experience ever. Continue reading →

How to get by in Spain

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I think a lot of Americans have certain ideas about Spain and Spanish people; that their passionate, flamenco dancing, bull-killing matadors. Or something like that. Surprisingly, Spain is actually a very diverse country, from its rainy northern coast to its sunny, dry Mediterranean beaches. It even has four national languages, not just Spanish. Though I traveled a lot within in the country, I lived in Granada for my year of study abroad. I became aware of a lot of differences between Granada and Western Massachusetts during my time there. I want to share a few tips and observations on the less well-known aspects of the culture of Andalucía (southern Spain). Continue reading →

Why you should study abroad for a year

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Whenever I thought about studying abroad, it had always been the goal to do it for a year. My reasoning was that I wanted to be as fluent as possible in Spanish and to integrate myself as much as I could into a new culture. I think most people decide to just go for a semester of study abroad, which is done for a lot of reasons. First of all, they may only be able to do a semester because they have to fulfill certain requirements at their colleges. Second, people just don’t want to leave their lives at home for too long of a time and that is totally valid. Also, students might have real responsibilities at home that don’t allow them to be gone for a whole academic year.

I think when you are able to go for a year, however, you should do it. Personally I got a much deeper experience of the culture by staying for a year. There were of course difficulties from being there a year. Almost everyone I knew ran out of their savings by the end of the year, even those who thought they were budgeting well. Things happened at home that I missed out on and I was away from most of my family and friends for nine months. But I definitely would stay for a year if I could do it again. Continue reading →

About the Study Abroad Visa Process

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Why Study Abroad?

As a Biochemistry and Spanish dual degree-er, studying abroad was presented to me as an option during my sophomore year when I declared my secondary major/degree. Originally as a biochemistry major, studying abroad was not an option for me as I knew I would not be able to transfer any credits. However, pursing a degree in Spanish opened up more opportunities for me and I knew that studying abroad would be a once-in-a-lifetime chance for me. After deciding to study abroad, I selected the USAC Madrid program as it offered language classes on top of a service learning and internship component. I decided this sophomore year spring semester and began the process fall semester of my junior year, with the intent of studying abroad in the spring. Continue reading →

Expectation vs. Reality: Managing My Expectations While Abroad

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STUDY ABROAD EXPECTATIONS MAY INCLUDE: becoming fluent in the national language by the time you get back home, only speaking said language, becoming best friends with everyone on the trip, going out almost every night, constant traveling to other countries, unlimited experiences…

STUDYING ABROAD MAY ACTUALLY INCLUDE: being frustrated with how little you can communicate with your host family, always feeling like you aren’t improving your language skills, feeling lonely and knowing absolutely nobody, waking up tired due to lack of sleep, ATM fees and declined debit cards, loud neighbors and uncomfortable situations… Continue reading →

A Salamanca Adventure

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Since I became a Spanish major I couldn’t wait to study abroad. It was an absolutely terrifying thought to me, a natural homebody, but the thought of traveling to a completely different country was both thrilling and nervewracking at the same time. So, freshman me thought I’d go to some Spanish-speaking country sophomore year. Then, sophomore me thought I would go junior year, and then… it was junior year spring semester. When people tell you that your college years fly by, they are not kidding. So here I am junior year spring semester taking an Integrative Experience course because I wasn’t able to study abroad when the one and only marvelous, Patricia Gubitosi tells our linguistics class about a summer study abroad program to Salamanca. I quickly google Salamanca on a map and see it is practically a desert, surrounded by land, not close to the water at all. Continue reading →

Learning Spanish in Guatemala

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I’ve done a fair amount of traveling since high school, but probably the most life-changing trip for me was the first one I ever did to Guatemala. It definitely wasn’t a country I planned on going to. I had initially wanted to go to Argentina since I was interested in its culture and knew more about it than a country like Guatemala, but in the end it was too expensive and too far away. However, I asked two people that I knew that had gone to Spanish language schools and they both suggested places in Guatemala. One was in Antigua, the most touristy and arguably most beautiful city in Guatemala, and the other was in Quetzaltenango (Xela), the second largest city in the country. I decided on the school in Xela because it looked slightly less touristy than the other one. Otherwise, I didn’t really know anything about them or anything about the country. Continue reading →

Post Study Abroad: My experience living in Granada, Spain

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It is my opinion that every single university student (at the very least) should have the opportunity to study abroad. While learning about a different culture, learning about a new language, a different way of life, is all very admirable in and of itself, what it can teach you about yourself is equally important. An interesting thing to note is that although you will find people representing all the different personalities everywhere, each culture is generally only conducive to a specific few. It is not that one way is superior and another lesser, instead what we should realize is that different people thrive in different environments. Continue reading →

Studying Abroad in this Hemisphere

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As a Spanish Major, I find that the majority of my classmates choose to study abroad in Spain. Spain has a lot to offer in regard to history, culture, food, night life, etc. but I always wonder why more students don’t choose to study abroad in Latin America. There are so many historically and culturally rich cities and countries here in this hemisphere. Also, if you are studying Spanish for your career so that you can communicate with Spanish-speaking people in the United States, the overwhelming majority of them are going to be from countries in Latin America. It will be helpful to know more about the countries and cultures that they come from, and to know how to speak the kind of Spanish they speak. Continue reading →