I stood next to a statue of Garcilaso de la Vega, a famous Spanish poet.

Author: Ian Popp | Majors: Economics, Chemical Engineering | Semester: Fall 2024

I studied abroad in Madrid, Spain at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) for the fall of 2024. In high school, I had taken the most Spanish classes available to me, so I have read literature from across most Spanish speaking countries. My favorite pieces were Don Quixote and Lazarillo de Tormes which both originate from Spain, so I wanted to see the windmills and walls of Toledo. To grow in my Spanish skills and see the sights from my favorite Spanish literature, I thought that the U of A exchange program in Madrid would be perfect for me since it would work for my degree plan in business while continuing to grow as an engineer.

Since my dad was collaborating with an engineering professor in Spain, we took a high-speed train to Valencia from Madrid before my classes began to view solar panels that were floating on agricultural reservoirs and to discuss the potential for similar installations in the Delta. For my classes at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, I found that my classes were split into a theoretical session and a practical session that each met once weekly. Often, the professor for the theoretical session and practical session are different. In stark contrast to my classes at Arkansas, most of the grade of each class is determined by the final exam in the course, so there is more flexibility during the semester with more pressure at the end. Due to this flexibility, I was also able to advance in my research career by flying to Baltimore, MD to present at the 2024 Biomedical Engineering Society Annual Meeting in October. After my conference, I locked in for finals, as I knew I did not have the same grace of time as the local students. In contrast to the local students who would take their exams over a three-week period in January, I would be taking all my final exams over the span of four days the week following the end of classes. After taking my finals, I was more than ready to leave Spain.

As I am reflecting on my experience, I believe that I have grown in several ways. Since I have been used to putting in effort continually throughout the semester where I would only have to clutch up for one or two finals at most, I had to adapt to be able to handle the daunting five final special, which I believe will help when I am preparing for one-off deadlines such as the FE exam to become a licensed engineer. Even though having more free time during the semester is nice, I have become grateful for homeworks and multiple exams that occur throughout the semester. Although my classes were officially in English, I grew in my Spanish skills since I would need to understand the Spanish that was often spoken or written in the classroom as well as experiencing Spanish in my daily life. My business classes were also a higher difficulty than I would have had at the University of Arkansas, allowing me to experience a more math intensive perspective of business that I would normally not receive.

Since Madrid is a popular destination for ERASMUS students, I was able to connect with students from across Europe. I was able to practice my German with my Swiss and German classmates. In this way, I was able to get recommendations for each of my trips that I took throughout the semester. My friend from Paris recommended that I visit the Ciel de Paris, a restaurant at the top of the Montparnesse Tower, where I had a three-course meal overlooking the Eiffel tower with a couple of my new friends I met in Madrid. In Zürich, I visited the Christmas markets and the Kunsthaus. I also went to San Sebastian where I was able to enjoy the Basque cuisine.Top of Form