My STEP Signature Project was a 7-week study abroad experience in Barcelona, Spain. In Barcelona, I took 4 Spanish classes that will count towards my Spanish degree at Ohio State, spending about five hours in the classroom for four days each week. I also lived with a host family and spent the weekends traveling to different cities and towns in Catalonia and Spain.
One way that my understanding of myself changed during my STEP project is that I became more empowered in my ability to do difficult, novel, and challenging things on my own. I’m an extroverted person, and it’s easy for me to surround myself with other people at school and rely on my friends in many situations. In Spain, I had to figure out new types of public transportation, speak to strangers in a foreign language, and navigate a new city with different cultural norms on my own. Th
is was very intimidating at the beginning, but as time went on and I got more practice doing so, I gained confidence in my ability to face new situations and thrive in them.
Another major way that my understanding of the world changed was immersing myself in a different culture for seven weeks. I have learned about the world for years in American classrooms, but being in another country and experiencing the way that people live there was very eye-opening. Assimilating with my host moms was difficult at times as they had different lifestyles, from the times and quantities they ate to the way they used utilities to the types of topics that they were comfortable discussing. But trying to understand their lives and fit into them was very eye-opening and expanded my understanding of how diverse the world is and how many ways there are to live.
A couple of major relationships that led me to these new understandings were with my host mothers, or abuelas. My abuelas, Olga and Maria, are sisters from Bogotá, Colombia, who have relocated to Barcelona. Olga has lived in Barcelona for around 26 years, while Maria has been there for about seven years. Neither of them speaks English, so from the first day we had to communicate completely in Spanish. At first, this was very intimidating for me, and I was too shy to ask for clarification or repetition when I didn’t understand something. As time went on and I got more comfortable, I became better at expressing myself and speaking up when I didn’t understand. Our relationships deepened over time, and learning about their storie
s that led them both to Barcelona was very touching. I was honored that they shared their lives with me, and it helped me gain cultural perspective and empathy for the situations that lead people to emigrate from their homes.
A key experience that contributed to my sense of self-efficacy in Spain was my solo trip to Montserrat, a monastery in the mountains about one hour outside of Barcelona. I really wanted to do some hiking and be in nature while I was in Spain, but none of the students I was there with shared
that interest. I decided to go on my own, which was very nerve-wracking for me. I was using a new public transport system, going far outside of the city, and hiking on my own. I was nervous about what I would do if something went wrong. But, going by myself built my confidence significantly and showed me that I do have the skills to navigate a new challenge on my own. When I was confused, I asked questions in Spanish to the people working there. It created a sense of self-efficacy that traveling with other people did not.
A daily activity that led to personal transfor
mation and development was speaking Spanish every day. Speaking a foreign language is difficult, and at the beginning of my time in Barcelona I was very nervous. I knew that people could tell from my accent that I am not a native speaker, and I did not want to make mistakes and show incompetency in the language. Most people who work in the service industry in Barcelona speak English due to the strong tourist presence, so during my first week, when I was with my friends and they spoke English, I would also speak English. However, I began challenging myself soon, and for most of my time in Spain, I spoke only Spanish with locals. This challenge built my confidence that I can speak and also that I can continue developing my skills not only in language, but in anything, through consistent practice and through not being afraid to make mistakes.
Developing a self of self-efficacy in Spain has crucial value to my personal and professional goals. I am very interested in living and working in Mexico or South America for a period after I finish my undergraduate education. I want to do this to spend some time outside of the country, work in a unique environment, further improve my Spanish, and to get some experience working before I decide what type of graduate school I want to pursue. This personal and professional pursuit is going to require a lot of independence and resilience in the face of challenges. Developing my confidence that I can do difficult and novel things on my own during my STEP experience will help me in this process of discovering what I want my higher education and career to look like in the future.
Additionally, speaking Spanish every day and improving my language skills and confidence is a very important development in my academic, personal, and professional goals. Like I mentioned, I have a goal of eventually becoming fluent in Spanish, and I would love to be able to work abroad and communicate to my coworkers in Spanish. My seven weeks in Spain did not make me fluent in Spanish, but they did improve my confidence and sense that I can speak, make mistakes, and communicate. I am more willing to practice even though I am not perfect, which is an essential part of acquiring any skill. This willingness to be uncomfortable will be important as I pursue my personal and professional goal of living and working abroad after I finish my undergraduate degree.