Hi, I'm Taylor, and I’m from North Carolina in the U.S. I'm currently attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. During my first year, in my second semester, I decided to study abroad in Granada, Spain. It’s pretty uncommon to go abroad during your first year of university in the U.S., but I was really lucky that my university offered a few programs that first-year students could choose from.

Now, I’m in my second year of university, studying Global Studies, with an additional major in Spanish and a minor in Music.

Why Granada, Spain?

As I mentioned, it's very rare to go abroad during your first year of college in the U.S., but at my school, there were five different programs you could choose from. One of them was in Granada, which is what I chose. I picked Granada because I had traveled to Spain before and I knew I really liked it. I had never been to Granada specifically, but I knew Spain was somewhere I could see myself being for a longer period of time after having traveled there. Also, my family and I hosted an exchange student from Malaga, and we had such a great time with him in the U.S. We didn't necessarily learn too much about Spain while he was here, but getting to be on the other side of the exchange and seeing how impactful it was both for my family and him further sparked my curiosity in the country.

Why did you decide to study abroad in your first year of College?

I think it has always been something that I really wanted to do in the future, in whatever way that might look. I knew that at some point in college, I would want to study abroad. So when I saw the opportunity to go as a freshman, I thought, why not now? It seemed fun, might as well go. Then I started looking more closely into the study abroad programs, and I realized it would be possible to go abroad multiple times. So, I decided to go abroad because you know what, if I start now, I’ll still have time to study abroad again later.

What do you think is the biggest difference between being a student in Spain and in the US?

In the U.S., everything is very homework-based, and there are a lot of assignments you have to complete throughout the semester. In Spain, it's more exam-based. For most courses, you'll have one or two big exams, presentations, or a combination of them. In contrast, in the U.S., you often get a new assignment every day. Therefore, your grades in Spain are based on a lot fewer things, while in the U.S., you can perform poorly on one exam and still end up with a good final grade. However, I think Spain’s system is really nice because there's a lot more free time. Not to say that there's no homework at all, but I really like that when class is over, it is truly over, and you're done for the day. In the U.S., even though classes are over, you still have to go and do homework for a few hours.

My courses in Granada, Spain

My major, Global Studies, is super unique in the sense that it's very flexible and a combination of a lot of different subjects. There's a mix of a little bit of history, a bit of geography, and some political science. I was lucky that a lot of the courses I took abroad were transferable for specific credit at my home university, which I know isn't always the case. My favorite class I took in Granada was the one I used for the global studies major, which was called Islamic culture in Spain, which I enjoyed a lot. I also took a class called Political Systems of Spain and the European Union. I think it's so amazing to study abroad in general, and the ability to take a lot of different courses that wouldn't be offered in your home country, such as this one. Most of all, It think it’s amazing to study topics that are so connected to your surroundings. You could step outside and think, “This is Islamic culture in Spain, I can see it right here.” That made the experience especially meaningful.

Studying abroad changed my view of education

I definitely have seen a lot of different versions of education. I think I've learned a lot about the Spanish education system and the American education system. Of course, there are a lot of things regarding education in Spain that I don't fully understand because I have been there for a short period of time. One thing that has surprised me about American colleges is how much you have to do in high school to get in. What leadership positions have you had? What clubs have you been in?. On the contrary, for universities in Spain, grades and exam scores are practically the sole factors that determine who gets admitted. Either way, there are a lot of things that I definitely learned and seen within education. I think the biggest thing I learned about education is definitely the importance of trying something new and getting outside your comfort zone. Particularly with travel, I have definitely learned more to live in a new country and have to express my needs to a host family in a foreign language, and just traveling and navigating airports by myself. I've definitely just learned a lot of things that I feel you can't really learn in a classroom, whether it's in the U.S. or in Spain.

My first week in Granada

The first week was definitely the weirdest, as there was a lot to adjust to. I remember just noticing that the culture there was a lot more relaxed and laid back. I feel in the U.S., it's as if you're not doing something at all times, you're unproductive, you're lazy, you're not working hard enough, you're not going to get this next opportunity. But there, you'll go outside and see people sitting, relaxing, and getting a coffee with friends, with no rush to get to the next thing.

Definitely a lot more relaxed in Spain. People take a lot more time with things, like whether it’s eating or going for a walk. Generally, people are also outside a lot more here in Spain than in the U.S. For example, the mealtimes in Spain are much later than in the US, and public transportation and walking to get places are far more common. Most places in the U.S. don't have public transit. I remember in one of my classes, one of my professors was saying. I know the U.S. doesn't have great public transportation, and every single person in that class said, no, in my hometown, there is no transportation whatsoever. She was absolutely shocked by that.

Challenges studying abroad?

To begin with, I actually didn't feel much homesickness. I think a big thing that really helped me with homesickness is handwritten notes and cards. So, when I was leaving for Spain, I packed a few cards from my family and my friends, and I put a lot of those in a little case, and just kept those with me. Whenever I was feeling sad or far away, I could always look at those. Which reminded me that no matter how far away I was, my friends and family were still always there for me. In terms of challenges apart from this, the biggest thing was really the language. Because even though I knew some Spanish, I really just wasn't confident in my Spanish. So, even though it was hard, I kind of really had to find that confidence. It was especially hard, just trying to explain things in a foreign language. I’ve come to a point where I've accepted that I may never be fully fluent in Spanish, but I'm going to keep working on it. In my opinion, just challenging myself was definitely a little bit of a struggle at the beginning. But realizing that I can do this and that I'm totally capable of working over those language barriers was life-changing. To add on, in terms of the language barriers, I actually had a roommate that I lived with in Granada. We were in our host family together, so we shared a room. She was from the U.S., so we would mostly speak English to each other. However, her Spanish is incredible; she is absolutely amazing at learning languages. The point is, she was able to help me a lot. In the beginning, that looked more like translating words. Do you know what this means? Do you know what this is? However, then it was do you understand the concept? because then you were able to piece together and understand the vocabulary. She was really helpful in working through that language barrier, but it was definitely super challenging the first few weeks, being there and working through it, and just overall advocating for yourself in a foreign language.

My YouTube channel

I actually don't know what about videos and YouTube I’ve always liked. It just grabs my attention. Throughout middle school and high school, my best friend and I loved making little videos. We started with iMovie, and then we would go to the App Store every once in a while and find the best free editor. We loved doing little skits and DIY videos. So, we would make little videos and send them out to our family, and that was one of my biggest passions throughout middle school and high school. My second biggest passion that really emerged during high school and then going into college was traveling, and when I realized that I could combine those two, it was amazing. Even my mom asked me the other day, what about making videos do I really enjoy? and I was like, just all of it. Filming it, editing it, brainstorming for them. I just really love doing it. Additionally, I'm not a super creative person, so I feel that this is my one creative outlet. I can't draw. I can't come up with many world-changing ideas, but I can film.

Lately, I’ve been doing videos that are just like general sharing tips and advice, rather than just exploring the city. I think sharing advice has definitely been cool to help other people, and a few people reach out, whether it's on Instagram or in the comments of a video. I was in Granada last year from January to May, and then when I got back in June, I started uploading videos. And I've done weekly videos since then. So that wasn't really in the moment as I was there, but something I do really enjoy. Now, even though my time in Granada has ended.

What have you taken away from this experience?

I think the biggest thing that I took away from that semester is firstly my independence and confidence. Going through a lot of those experiences, that definitely gave me a lot more independence and also confidence. Secondly, I think also learning just by seeing, new places for a longer period of time, and being forced to adjust to a new place, a new routine, and a new way of life, definitely showed me that there's a lot more to the world and a lot more to other people's lives than just what I'm used to.

Advice to future applications

“I think the biggest thing is just go do it, just go try it out”. It can feel a little scary at first. I had a lot of doubts going into it, and I was getting scared and nervous to go. But, I kept telling myself that the only thing scarier than going is not going, is staying in what I know, thinking about what could have been. I felt as saying yes to everything, trying new things, pushing myself outside of my comfort zone, and meeting new people. But, really just saying yes to everything because there are so many opportunities when you study abroad, that you won't get a lot of other times in your life.