I studied abroad for a semester at Universidad Pontificia Comillas in Madrid on the Fisher College of Business Undergraduate Exchange for my STEP Signature project. In a truly transformational experience, I became a student in a non-American school system where I took business classes and some for my Spanish minor while living in a foreign city.
In the beginning I made a lot of mistakes. I had issues bringing the right adapter, finding an honest place to convert my dollars to euros, stores being closed because it was a Spanish holiday I didn’t know about and more. Looking back to myself before I completed my project, I have grown so much, have become savvier, and gained insight about world around me. One of my first struggles (besides dealing with all the paperwork to obtain a long-term visa) was fitting five months of my life into a suitcase and a half with a strict weight limit. This was not easy, but as result, it caused me to really think about what I need to function in my day to day life and I was able to live with less. Then came the shock of the language barrier. I was in the process of completing my Spanish minor and had thought my Spanish skills would get me to fluency level by the end of my semester. A naïve assumption, I did not become fluent in those five months, however my Spanish did get tremendously better and my love of learning the language was reinforced. Hopefully I can become fluent later down the road. All in all, at the end of the five months ended up being really was proud of myself and all I accomplished on my program. Certainly, every day was not rainbows and butterflies – there was a bit of a cultural adjustment, but I learned to roll with the punches, and for that I have become more patient and levelheaded when the unexpected happens.
So, what allowed me to embark on this transformational experience? The longer I spent in Madrid the more layers I peeled off as I began to appreciate the Spanish culture and allow my preconceived notions melt away. No longer was it the exotic country full of bull fighting, flamenco, siestas, and sangrias. I dover deeper and learned about the Spanish literature, about the Spanish artists and their invaluable paintings, and the cinema that has such a deep-rooted historic presence in the country. In the midst of a major election, I began to understand the country’s voting system and emerging multi-party-political landscape. Geographically, I took it further and extended my view of Spanish culture outside of touristy Madrid and Barcelona. The Basque people were different from the Madrileños, which were different from the Andalucians. Further, I became more cognizant of the effect the USA has on the world. After interacting with locals day after day for nearly half a year, I learned the effect of being physically so far removed from Europe. Curiosities were brought up, the stereotypes were discussed, but also the praises of the United States. By the time I flew home I had collected memories and tidbits of knowledge from all over Europe that have built upon my position as a global citizen who only wants to expand her world.
This whole challenge all stemmed from attending university in a different country. Attending school where the majority of students were native-Spanish opened my eyes to a different educational system and allowed me to reflect on the pros and cons of our system back home. And although some of my classes were in English, it was surreal being constantly surrounded by the Spanish language walking through the hallways or hearing native speakers in your class building rapport with the professors in rapid-Spanish. Nonetheless, I learned the value of knowing another or multiple languages and effectively, the differences in expectations between American and Spanish students. One notable event was when I was able to sit down with my marketing professor and have a lengthy discussion about how business is conducted in Spain and the culture variances between the US found within that professional setting. This conversation, along with the connections I gained throughout the semester, have expanded my global network and have shown me professional opportunities beyond the borders of the US.
Another interesting aspect of my project that allowed me to grow were some of the classes I chose to take that transformed my perceptions of the country. I read Hispanic literature where classics were drawn upon to encourage intellectual and engaging conversations. I learned how Don Quixote attempted to revolutionize the relationship of trust between the reader and author. And Federico Garcia Lorca’s plays which came at a pivotal point in history during both world wars. I studied Spanish visual arts and the artworks of Pablo Picasso, Diego Velazquez, Francisco Goya, which came to life when I visited Madrid’s famous Museo del Prado. I also delved into Francoist cinema which encompassed a diving into Spain’s nationalistic past and the rise and power of dictator Francisco Franco. I analyzed the propagandist cinema Franco employed and the movies that smartly navigated decades of widespread censorship during the regime. Overall, this super fascinating material has made me become more educated about the rich history of Spain and appreciate the artistical influence the country has stimulated over the past hundreds of years.
Outside of the classroom, I could immerse myself in the lifestyle of a Madrileno and enjoy the cultural practices that slowly crept into my everyday life. With nearly 15,000 places to eat and drink it’s no surprise that eating and drinking is truly a social activity, and I embraced the terrazas and cafes (no not the Starbucks) found nearly every 100 feet. I learned the city’s metro which I took nearly every day and that due to the year-round nice weather and relatively flat landscape, it is fairly easy to walk places. And when I took trips outside of the country’s capital, I learned a great deal about the varied cultures and history within Spain. From Toledo’s intricate Baroque cathedral that showcases the deep-rooted Catholicism the country once held, to one of the oldest universities in the world housed in Salamanca, to the Islamic influence from pre-Reconquista in Cordoba, and the traditional Andalusian flair retained in Sevilla.
Studying abroad has had a profound impact on my time at OSU and is an experience I won’t soon forget. I can draw upon this once in a life time experience for the rest of my life, where I was able to spend 5 months thriving academically, professionally, and personally. I proved to myself that I was able to handle living in a different country for an extended period of time and away from the comfort of family and friends. It would be great to challenge myself again in a future job or to pick up another language. Which brings me to my old personal and academic goal of studying Spanish in a native speaking country. This became so valuable in pushing me outside of my comfort zone in forcing me to communicate with people in a language besides my native one. Suddenly, that presentation or quiz doesn’t seem so daunting now. Thanks to my STEP Signature project, I was also able to finally achieve a nearly decade long goal of mine to study abroad which enhanced and transformed my academic aspirations, professional achievements, and personal ambitions now and in my future.