Author: Valerie Jackson        Major: Industrial Engineering

Exploring Plaza de España, Sevilla

This past summer I had the opportunity to spend 5 weeks abroad living in Madrid, Spain. Being able to say that sentence has been a dream of mine since I began my Spanish learning journey back in high school. However, the trip I ended up taking to Spain surpassed my expectations in a way I could never have imagined. I took courses at a local university in both Spanish Literature and Advanced Spanish Language, and I chose the CEA Study Abroad program because of the immersion aspect and the independence that it granted in being able to truly live on my own in another country. I was excited to begin my classes, but on my first day, I was very overwhelmed with the content. I tested into the highest Spanish grammar class with those who had been
speaking Spanish since they were infants, and I felt like I did not belong there. I even tried to see if I could move out of the class, to no avail. This eventually became something that I was so thankful for. This advanced grammar class helped to grow my Spanish quicker than any class I had ever taken. Struggling through the beginning and eventually becoming more and more comfortable, revealed to me that we must become a
little uncomfortable if we wish to truly grow. It has always been my goal to tie in my ability to speak Spanish to my major of Industrial Engineering and I feel that this study abroad opportunity with CEA has definitely improved my skills in this regard. I feel that truly living and being forced to speak the language every day without the ability to
default to English, allowed me to grasp the language more than any amount of time in a U.S. classroom could. The classes that I took at Universidad Antonio de Nebrija in Madrid were very different structurally from many courses I have taken in the past as well. I felt that I was back in high school again. We had small classes, with small desks, and small rooms that allowed us to become closer to our peers and teachers. The professors were very helpful and kind and I truly felt that they wanted me to succeed and that they would help me in any way that they could to achieve my goals. My professors recognized when I was struggling, and instead of blaming me or asking why, they met me where I was and helped me to grow.

My academic achievements from this experience were just the tip of the iceberg on the ways I would grow while in Spain. I was able to experience so many things that I never thought I would. Not only was I able to participate in activities such as a weekend trip to Seville, a flamenco show, a cooking class, visits to the castle in Segovia, and many more, but the day-to-day lifestyle helped me to truly slow down and think about what was really important to me. Spain views a lot of things in very unique ways. For example, the country is filled with many art museums and historical sites of great significance. The wonderful thing about Spain is that they place a very high value on education and study so that many of these museums and historical sites are free to students or have greatly reduced rates. In addition, the relationship that Spanish people have with food was, in my opinion, a very lovely thing. They do not have artificial sweeteners and have laws that restrict the use of sweeteners in foods and beverages so everything is very fresh and natural. The Spanish people use meal times as a time to
visit with friends and family; meals are lingered over for hours as they are more to enjoy the company of the people you are with rather than just for the consumption of food. You would never see someone eating on the go or even eating alone. The mentality in Spain is “work to live” rather than “living to work”; in other words, they place a high value on living life. This gave me a strange sense of peace. I feel like as American college students there is so much pressure to get the dream job or dream career, and then we feel like we have failed if we do not get that. But this trip helped me to realize it is not about the job. You can still be happy and live for yourself even if your job is not the best. It is just a job. My identity does not need to be rooted in whether or not I am thrilled to
go to work everyday. Being human is about relationships with people after all, not climbing the ladder and making money.

One piece of advice that I was very thankful for receiving before I went abroad was actually from my mother. You might think it strange at first (like I did) but she told me to take several very small gifts with me specific to my state of Arkansas to give to someone who I became close to while on my trip. I actually took several flour sack dish towels with the state of Arkansas on them which showed various towns and features of Arkansas. At the time I did not think I would need these, but I was so thankful to have them to give to my professors, program directors, and landlady. It was just a form of thanking them in my own way, and a way for them to remember me. My advice to other students who might be considering a study abroad semester (or two) would be to make
it happen. I truly feel that there is a trip for every person, every interest, and every major and that the cultural experiences and broadened horizons are just as important as the educational advances. While I missed my friends back home, I would go back again tomorrow because I loved my summer in Spain that much. This summer with CEA Study Abroad was exactly what I needed to strengthen my resolve to utilize my ability to
speak Spanish in my career, and it came at just the right time to help me see my future in a more clear way.