A semester abroad: Studying in Spain

“I want a balcony with a view of the sea,” I thought as I gawked at website after website looking for living arrangements, preparing to spend the best days of my life in sunny Valencia, Spain. Sunbathing between classes, beach volleyball until sunset, devouring fine cheeses and meats for only pennies; this was the trailer for the cinematic production I created in my mind. Enacted as a montage to instrumental Spanish music, my thoughts had begun to consume all reality. And I’ll be honest, somehow those things occurred just like I dreamed, yet it wasn’t those picture-perfect times that moved me or taught me anything special. It’s what happened behind the scenes that changed me.

The idea of studying abroad in a foreign country started when I saw a flyer about drop-in study abroad advising at the MSU Study Abroad office. I went in without a clue of how the process worked. My advisor told me about the series of deadlines and applications, as well as a health-while-abroad session which I needed to attend before anything could get rolling. This was intimidating, and I had no idea if this would even work as a finance major. My options were to go through a guided exchange with International Student Exchange Programs or The College Consortium for International Studies. The other option was a direct exchange, the difference being that going with a program would be more guided and included excursions and services like airport pick-up and hotlines.

Direct exchange is basically transferring to a university that has an arrangement with MSU to trade students for a semester. I decided to go the latter route and simply paid my normal tuition through MyInfo and then I was on my own. The MSU Office of International Programs was very supportive as I navigated through the adventure with many questions.

It all started with the VISA application. A very complicated process, but thankfully I had some warning. Turns out it wasn’t just hopping on a plane, landing in a foreign country and just living. There was a lot more that went on, and depending on what country you chose, it could be an excruciating process. In January 2018, I electronically booked an appointment with the Spanish Consulate for June 2018 in San Francisco. I planned to be in Spain in August of that year, so that gave me one month to turn in all the paperwork prepared with perfection, then return home and wait for the green light of acceptance, only to book another flight back to San Francisco where I could pick up my new and improved passport, come back home, pack, and only then could I leave the country. The process can only be described in two ways: not fun and not cheap.

Because this was a direct exchange, there was no guideline for how my semester would go. I was simply exchanging universities for five months. I didn’t know any other MSU students who were going there. In fact, I didn’t even know a single American who would be there. Looking back, I was completely unprepared and in such a state of utter bliss that I wasn’t even scared.

Being so set on having a glamorous balcony, I made the stupendous decision to find housing once I got there. Luckily, my parents talked me into booking a hotel the first two nights so I’d have some place to go to. That next morning I checked out, not staying the second night. The first thing I bought was a SIM card so I could use Google Maps and tell my family I was alive. With my single suitcase packed with everything I needed for the semester, I trekked across the city of Valencia for an hour-and-a-half in the boiling August heat to the nearest hostel. Once I found one, I checked in, saw a sign for free dinner and actually made friends that night.

They were German students with impeccable English. We were all in the same boat, homeless and in a foreign country. Their Spanish was much better than mine and they helped me write a script for making phone calls to landlords. Long story short, five days went by, and my friends had all found places to live while I was getting desperate because classes started the next day. In a whirlwind of events I somehow got locked into a housing arrangement where a website guaranteed me they would find a place and automatically charged me when the deal was set. Next thing I knew, I got an email saying “Congratulations! Belen has accepted your request.” Wait what? Who is Belen?

She turned out to be my 40-year old roommate for the semester. She only spoke Spanish. The place was an hour-long tram ride from the beach and had a balcony facing the street. It was on the seventh floor of a non-air conditioned building whose elevator was having some maintenance done.

And that’s only the beginning. To this day, I would not change a thing. I loved being lost and naive. Turns out, I didn’t make a single American friend and experienced immersion on another level. I wasn’t afraid of not having a plan, using terrible Spanish or knowing no one. I have more crazy memories than I could have possibly dreamed up because of these little mishaps. Everything ended up working out: I corresponded with my business major advisor while abroad to pick out classes for the coming semester so that I would show up the first day of classes like I never left.

What did change after studying abroad is how much I valued experiences: raw, unprepared-for time that is spent solely being alive. I’m so thankful I was able to study abroad and that I wasn’t afraid to do it alone. If you ever have the chance, definitely take it.