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Town of Segovia, Spain with a castle in the distance.<\/p><\/div>\n
Why did you decide to study abroad?<\/b><\/p>\n
Studying abroad was one of the main reasons that I came to OWU. When I heard about the OWU Connection I was hooked on the school. I always knew that I was going to travel abroad during my time in college, and it just sort of fell into place because of the Spanish program here at Ohio Wesleyan. I actually became a Spanish major because of my time abroad. Without spending my semester abroad in Madrid, I would not have been able to major in the discipline.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Is there a particular experience that jumps out to you when thinking about your experiences abroad?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n I was actually able to travel a lot throughout Europe on my own. Even when I traveled with friends, I would still spend a lot of time on my own. I was able to see a lot of hidden gems in cities throughout Europe this way! I went on a Spring Break trip by myself to Palma de Mallorca, part of the Spanish Balearic Isles in the Mediterranean Sea. I planned the trip, in Spanish might I add, all by myself. This experience was one of the most impactful ones that I was able to have during my time in Europe. I learned how to take care of myself through this experience as well as others.<\/span><\/p>\n What was the most rewarding part of your study abroad experience?<\/b><\/p>\n I really appreciated the opportunity to travel abroad while not having very many responsibilities. I may never have the experience of not having so many responsibilities ever again, so it is something that I will cherish for the rest of my life. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience.<\/span><\/p>\n What places did you travel to while studying abroad? Do you have a favorite place that you visited?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n Church in Seville, Spain.<\/p><\/div>\n I have an extensive list of all of the cities that I traveled to on my notes app in my phone. Let me pull it up. I traveled to the following cities: Madrid, Spain; Segovia, Spain; Lisbon, Portugal; Paris, France; Seville, Spain; Cadiz, Spain; London, England; Palma de Mallorca, Spain; Brussels, Belgium; Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Rome, Italy. <\/span><\/p>\n Madrid will always have a special place in my heart, because that is where I spent the majority of my time. I really want to go back, and am actually planning a trip to Europe with my friend Makayla Trebella for after graduation. I told her that we have to make a stop in Madrid–it holds so many\u00a0<\/span>special memories for me.<\/span><\/p>\n Is there any advice that you have for students who are thinking about studying abroad?<\/b><\/p>\n PLAN! Plan for what you want to do when you are over there. Be adventurous, but safe. And don\u2019t let the bigness of Europe scare you. There are a lot of opportunities for every personality out there and I would encourage you to look for these opportunities. Find a support system when you get there, too. Find friends who you can travel with!<\/span><\/p>\n What do you wish that you had done differently while studying abroad?<\/b><\/p>\n I regret not planning more early on. There were a lot of problems with my process of studying abroad up until the very day that I left. I had a really difficult time with my plane ticket getting to Madrid. I actually spent money on a ticket from a budget airline from the US to Spain, and a few days before I was scheduled to leave, I was notified that the travel times changed for my flight. With these changes, I would be unable to make it to Madrid on time, so I had to scramble to purchase another plane ticket and get my money back from the budget airline. I wish that it would have been easier, both on my part and on the part of others. However, after that experience, I made sure that I monitored my flight times for every place that I was traveling to, and didn’t have any other hiccups in that regard.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n **@maria_in_madrid on Instagram.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sites.owu.edu\/engblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/118\/2020\/10\/IMG_1133-2-296x300.jpg\")