Author: James Houston | Major: International Business | Semester: Spring 2025

My visit to Gibraltar with a wild barbary macaque

During the 2025 spring semester, I studied abroad in Seville Spain with the ISA program. When deciding where I wanted to study, I already knew that I wanted to go to a primarily Spanish speaking country. I have been studying Spanish since high school, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to improve these skills while abroad. After looking some of the programs offered, I landed on Seville, Spain with the ISA program. I have been interested in Spain for some time before studying abroad. The culture, architecture and the natural features were all a major draw for me. Cost also played a large role in my decision. Compared to some of the other locations in larger cities like Barcelona and Madrid, studying in Seville was much cheaper. I was able to study in Seville for the entire duration of the semester, which ended up being about 3 months. My study abroad trip was academically focused. I was able to take 12 credit hours while abroad, which were classes focused on my international business degree and Spanish minor. The professors at ISA were well versed in their subjects and had very diverse backgrounds. Being able to learn about their previous jobs or places that they lived was interesting to hear about, and it was one of my favorite parts about the university. The university was also very close to the apartment building that I stayed in, so I was able to walk to class most days which was very nice. All of my classes were pass fail when transferring back to the University of Arkansas, which meant that I was able to enjoy being abroad more since I wasn’t worried about my GPA suffering. However, my classes were still challenging because I was a junior taking mostly 3000 level classes. Thankfully my professors ensured that the workload was still manageable while still covering some difficult topics. My favorite class that I took while abroad was Global Economies and Developing Nations. This class was taught by a professor that had worked in several foreign governments as a speech writer, and he was very thorough with his teaching style. He often discussed some of the more unstable governments that he had worked with, which was very applicable to the class.

Studying in the E.U. had many advantages, but one of my favorites was how easy it was to travel to other countries. Because of the relatively short distances to reach other countries in the area, airfare was extremely cheap compared to the U.S. Our program also offered several excursions that we could elect to attend, some of which were even free. I was able to travel to many of the different major cities in Spain, like Barcelona, Madrid, Cadíz, and Grenada. Each of these cities offered a different cultural experience than the other, whether it was the food, environment, or the people of the city. Some of the countries that I was able to visit include Portugal, Ireland, and Morocco. Ireland was one of my favorite places that I was able to travel to. I went during St. Patrick’s weekend, so it was obviously very hectic but also a very memorable trip.

I was able to make lots of different friends during my study abroad, which helped to make traveling more enjoyable since I was able to go with people I knew. Overall, my time abroad in Spain was unforgettable and I will carry the experiences and stories I gained for the rest of my life.