I knew that I wanted to go to Spain since I was a sophomore in high school, so being able to study abroad during the Fall Semester of 2021 at the University of Oviedo was an experience I had been looking forward to for a long time. Because I had wanted to do go to Spain for so long, I had a pre-formulated story in my head about what my experience would be like, all the Spanish I would learn, and the experiences I would have. This experience turned out to be very different from what I was expecting, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

My first month of being in Spain I was struggling with homesickness. I’m originally from Fort Collins, Colorado and now having an 8-hour time difference from family and friends was very challenging. I remember the first couple weeks when I would wake up and immediately feel far away from my home. I felt very hopeless at the beginning, but slowly after making friends with other students and exploring the city, I started feeling less sad for what I was lacking and excited about the new experience I was having. Here are some pictures of the amazing people I met.

While I was in Spain, I took Mechanics of Materials and two Spanish language for foreigner’s courses. The mechanics of materials was a fun course to take, and allowed me to meet a lot of other international students. Through this course I met my good friend Lisa from France (pictured above). The schooling system was very different to what I was used to at Mines. Instead of weekly assignments and the occasional midterm, there was a brief monthly quiz and one final exam that was the majority of the grade for the course. It was a bit of a shock to not have weekly work and this allowed me to take weekend trips around Spain.

I was able to take weekend trips and explore northern Spain in my free time. My favorite place to visit was Barcelona. The Sagrada Familia was truly breathtaking. I walked around for a couple hours and tried to take in as much of the amazing and intricate architecture that it held. In that trip I also went and swam in the Mediterranean Sea and took a nap on the beach. The sunburn was definitely worth it.

This experience allowed me to learn a lot about myself and see the importance and value in experiences outside of my school and career. Upon reflecting on my experience, I have seen that it has allowed me to be more relaxed and excited to develop personal skills and abilities that make me happy and serve a purpose beyond coursework.