However, before I start since I have 2 days left here is 2 different sets of advice I give to those who are considering study abroad.
1. Pick a place you find interesting. When I was considering my study abroad I originally considered Australia. But then my mom told me it would be too far away and to maybe choose somewhere else. So I looked into other places and found Ireland. I fell in love with the profile that CIS had created and I wanted to go there. However, I knew I wanted to travel. So after looking more into their programs I found mine and realized that I would get to see so many different things plus everything I would have wanted to do on my free time if I had done a semester program. I fell in love with this program for the fact it was decently priced, the excursions that were offered, the classes, and the idea of traveling to more than one country. Also don't just pick a place for the price. You never know how great a country would be based on the money.
2. Take a chance. This is more for even just starting out on the study abroad experience. It truly is an experience and I believe that everyone should take this opportunity. Even if it consists of going to a country for a mission trip or even going to Canada. It is part of the experience of going that makes a difference. I think that this also most definitely applies to when you are abroad because you never know what kind of opportunities will arise while you are abroad. For example, my favorite memory is going to see the Queen for her official birthday and had I not taken the chance to go and see her I would have never experienced this awesome ceremony.
So go and study abroad! It is truly a once in a lifetime experience and I think everyone should do it at least once in their life even if it isn't for studying but just for traveling. It is worth it. Learning about other cultures and becoming more open minded is one of the best things I have learned on this trip.
Okay, enough about my advice! Onto my day!
So today I had Spanish and we did our final review for our exam tomorrow. I feel very confident that I will do really well. I am so impressed with how much I have come to learn through this class and that I am able to do so much with how much Spanish I have learned in this short amount of time. I am now able to create 100 word essays, and speak about different things in my life almost fluently. It may not be very good but I can hold a decent conversation and that was one of my goals on this trip and I have successfully completed it.
In psych today I presented my photo project. I talked about the different aspects of the cultures I visited had impacted me. I spoke about the Scots and how their culture with superstitions and kilts were different from my expectations originally. Then I talked more about the Queen and then about the housing situation in Spain as well as the food and the beaches here. Then we went for drinks as a class and closed for the semester. I found it interesting how we were able to talk about going home and connect to the culture we now know here.
Afterwards I had a reentry workshop brought on by CIS. We had a good time talking about our experiences but in particular how it will be like to go back to the US. We first talked about how this study abroad experience can actually be helpful when looking at jobs and graduate schools. We did practice interviews in how these experiences will help us and learned how to portray this experience. Then we talked about what it will be like talking to others when we return to the US and how people will ask us about our experience and how to go about telling them and showing them different aspects of our trip. I also had my first empanadas of the trip during this workshop. They were not what i was expecting honestly. I thought it would taste different but either way it was good.
Then I came home and got started on my paper and I can officially say that I am finished with my 10 page paper! I am so proud of the fact it is done and over with. I am also just thankful it is done so I can finish studying for my exams tomorrow and relax for the night.
Tomorrow I have finals and then I think I might go back to the magic fountain as a last hurrah.
Until then.
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