Study Abroad Reflection

During the Fall 2024 semester, from September 2nd to December 13th, 2024, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to participate in a Clemson faculty-directed study abroad program in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. It is difficult to put into words just how much of an impact these few months had on me, but I can confidently say that it was an unforgettable and truly invaluable experience.

 

The trip began in Madrid, where I united with my fellow Clemson peers and the professor in charge of the program. We spent a day exploring the city, visiting famous sites such as the Prado Museum and the Plaza Mayor. I was able to try traditional Spanish food for the first time, such as tapas, paella, and churros, and learned a great deal about the capital and its history. The next day, we took a high-speed train to our destination: Santiago de Compostela, a smaller city located in the northwest of Spain, in the autonomous community known as Galicia. There, I met my host family: an older woman named Deli, her daughter-in-law, and her granddaughter who was only a year old. They immediately welcomed me into their home with open arms, and were incredibly patient and understanding towards my low confidence with speaking Spanish at the time. Soon after, I began taking classes conducted entirely in Spanish at the Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, learning directly from local Spanish professors. I thoroughly enjoyed these classes, as they challenged me on a daily basis to use the Spanish language in new and more insightful ways. These courses greatly helped to improve my reading, writing, and listening skills, while also introducing me to the history and culture of Spain, topics which I had been quite unfamiliar with. 

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One aspect of the program in particular that I was especially grateful for was the fact that the entire study abroad group became friends almost immediately. Within only a week, we had all become closer friends than I could have ever imagined, and I felt as if I had known these people for months or even years. It was something that I did not take for granted, and an experience that I feel is incredibly rare to have. During my time in Santiago, I went on multiple exciting trips with either the entire group or some members of the group, to a variety of bucket-list destinations such as Porto, Portugal, Bordeaux, France, and Venice, Italy. These trips and adventures became some of my most treasured memories from my time abroad. I was also able to explore the city of Santiago almost every day, trying new restaurants or cafes with friends or visiting notable landmarks and historical sites. Every day offered an opportunity to explore a new aspect of the city, and we took full advantage of those opportunities. Another amazing aspect of the program was the plethora of other foreign students that I had the opportunity to meet and form close friendships with. Through the Erasmus Student Network, I was able to participate in different get-togethers, activities, and events with other exchange students from all over the world. I became friends with students from countries such as Mexico, Peru, Chile, Norway, Germany, Italy, and Japan, and was able to learn so much from my interactions and time spent with these fellow students. I created lasting memories with them, and some of those friendships have still continued to this day. They introduced me to new perspectives, challenged me in exciting ways, and helped to greatly improve my Spanish speaking skills by only conversing with me in Spanish rather than English. When speaking with them, I was able to worry less about completely correct grammar and pronunciation, and instead focus on simply communicating and conveying my ideas effectively, which turned out to be an incredibly helpful mindset in my language-learning process. Some of the other activities that I took part in during the program included a month-long internship, volunteering work throughout the semester, and a wide variety of extra-curricular cultural activities and excursions that formed part of the program. My peers and I also completed a very small part of the Camino de Santiago, an important Christian pilgrimage that ends at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. Although it involved a great deal of walking and hiking, the trip was absolutely incredible, and exposed me to even more aspects of Galician culture and history.

 

Although I encountered many cultural and social differences during my time in Spain, one of these differences stood out more than the rest. I was able to witness firsthand just how much of the Spanish way of life is centered around the values of collectivism and familism. Everywhere I went, a strong sense of community was present in a way that I had never experienced before in the U.S. One direct example of this mindset could be found in the sobremesa, the extended length of time after a meal where friends and family can simply talk, socialize, and enjoy each other’s company. I often found that meals were an experience, taking up two to three hours, and were much more of a social and communal event. I thoroughly enjoyed this tradition, and felt that it perfectly encapsulated the Spanish culture that places a strong value on spending time and forming strong relationships with friends and loved ones. Another example of this was found in my internship experience, where the entire staff of the hotel that I worked at simply felt like one big family. Most of the employees had been working there for years (as is typical in Spain, with people often finding jobs that they are happy with, creating a much lower turnover rate than the U.S.) and had formed meaningful connections with practically every other member of the staff. The environment was incredibly welcoming and familial, further displayed during social gatherings such as coffee in the morning and lunch in the afternoon, when my coworkers would come together, socialize, and enjoy good food and drinks. This positive, group-oriented mentality was a stark contrast to my experience at other jobs in the U.S., where people tended to be much more isolated and less sociable or welcoming. Finally, my host family served as an example of the importance of familial values in Spain, with my host “grandma” having multiple family members over at any given time, including her son, her daughter-in-law, her daughter, her son-in-law, and her two granddaughters. I learned that the extended family holds much greater importance in Spain, with the relationships between extended family members being far stronger and closer than in the U.S., and I experienced these differences firsthand. I was also taken aback by just how welcoming and inviting each member of the family truly was to me, and felt grateful for their constant generosity and willingness to so gracefully welcome me into their home. Overall, this strong sense of community and focus on enjoying the company of others, as well as encouraging people to take care of their own health and the health of others, was something that could be felt in nearly every aspect of my study abroad experience, and something that I greatly appreciated and valued.

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One of the greatest challenges I encountered during my study abroad experience was simply being unable to effectively communicate my thoughts and ideas in Spanish. There were plenty of situations where I forgot or didn’t know an important word, or I forgot specific conjugations or phrases. To overcome this challenge, I had to come to terms with the fact that my Spanish was never going to be one hundred percent perfect, and that was perfectly reasonable. I had to realize that in English, we make hundreds of errors just in our daily speech throughout the day. In Spain, I often had to simply relax, stop overthinking it, and speak on instinct, without dwelling too much on my vocabulary or grammar. This proved to be an extremely valuable lesson for me, as I saw my Spanish speaking skills increase tenfold during my time there. Speaking of this drastic improvement in my skills, it is important for me to add that this study abroad experience enriched my academic experience in a way that Spanish classes in the U.S. never could. I was able to experience firsthand Spanish culture and ways of life and furthermore, became so immersed in the language and customs that I saw very noticeable improvements in all areas of my language skills by the end of the program. The amount of colloquial and professional vocabulary that I acquired during my time there was unprecedented, and remarkably helpful. My speaking, reading, writing, and listening skills were all greatly improved over the course of the semester, and I believe that only a study abroad experience like the Santiago program could have led to such a rapid and obvious change.

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My experience abroad even impacted my perception of myself in unprecedented ways, leading to a strong sense of personal growth and achievement. By the end of the program, I had achieved so much; most of it entirely independently and in a completely foreign country. I felt so much more confident in myself and my abilities, including communicating with others, meeting new people, forming friendships, navigating unfamiliar places, and traveling on my own. I felt the most self-confident that I probably ever had before, and truly felt that after this experience, my capabilities were endless and I could achieve almost anything that I set my mind to. Furthermore, my learning goals before the program were simply to improve my Spanish skills and hopefully achieve fluency. However, my current goals now center on meeting and forming connections with Spanish-speaking people, which was an experience that I treasured greatly in Spain. Being able to use the skills that I had acquired over the years to communicate with people (that I otherwise would never have been able to talk with and listen to) was something that I valued more than anything else. The connections I formed in Spain with people from all over the Spanish-speaking world was something that I greatly treasured, and hope to continue to do throughout the rest of my personal and professional life.

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To conclude, my experience studying abroad in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, was nothing short of amazing. I was able to be fully immersed in the culture and language of Spain, all while forming valuable relationships and making personal achievements that helped to tremendously increase my self-confidence and self-worth. My level of fluency was remarkably increased, and my desire to continue to learn and work in the Spanish-speaking world was only magnified. I got to experience a variety of cultural differences firsthand, with one of the most prevalent being the sense of community and togetherness that could be felt at every turn. This experience was one that I will remember and value for the rest of my life, and one that has inspired me to continue to travel and meet new people, and to further my study and pursuit of a career centered in the Spanish language.