Spain is a beautiful country made of a diverse population and landscape where unique languages, foods, activities, and other cultural elements can be encountered. All of them converge in Madrid, the country’s central city and capital. I documented my travels and experiences through selfies and actively shared what I learned with family and friends back home through social media. This photo was taken in front of the Palacio Real de Aranjuez, a former retreat for the Spanish royal family in Aranjuez, a town at the edge of the Comunidad de Madrid.

While studying at the Universidad Pontificia Comillas in Madrid, I took a full schedule of engineering courses, to include Fluid Mechanics, Engineering Dynamics, Intro to Sustainable Engineering, and Engineering Statistics. Compared to my home university, the classes at Comillas were small and encouraged more interaction between the professor and students. After the initial phase of adapting to a foreign teaching style, I gained more from these classes by learning through a new perspective. This photo was taken in front of the ICAI Engineering Building on the first day of class.

As Spain is a very diverse country, home to four different native languages, a variety of regional cultures, and unique ecosystems, I took advantage of the country’s well developed infrastructure to visit 13 of the 17 Autonomous Communities (Spain’s equivalent to US States). Through these travels, I gained a greater understanding of the Spanish identity and the importance of regional cultural celebration. This photo was taken at the Parque Nacional das Illas Atlánticas de Galicia, off the coast of Vigo, Galicia in northwest Spain. 

I also had the opportunity to travel to 10 other countries while on this study exchange, including Portugal, Andorra, Serbia, Cyprus, Malta, Belgium, Estonia, Czechia, Austria, and Slovakia. The level of cultural diversity between each of these countries despite their small separation was incredible to experience. Often Europe is displayed as a uniform continent, undermining the significance of these differences. Learning to recognize both the beauty abundant and hardship endured in a place is crucial as a global citizen. This photo was taken in front of Novi Dvor, the Presidential Palace in Belgrade, Serbia.

Spain is a country rich with history and I challenged myself to learn as much about the country's history, culture, and people as I could by both visiting museums and sites, and interacting directly with the people surrounding me. These interactions were the most influential part of my study abroad, as they help you learn the most about a place and provide the best resource for foreign language skill development. This picture was taken at the National Naval Museum in Madrid. As a future sailor myself, I took special interest in Spain's naval history.

The most amazing part of the experience was that not only was I living in Spain, but I began to feel like I was living like a Spaniard. Study abroad enables you to experience and understand the ways of life of other people around the world. Coming home, my perspective on the world have been broadened and ways of living life have been altered. This photo was taken at an Atlético de Madrid soccer match. Just one example of an important part of their city culture, I became an avid fan of the team and still watch and cheer on the matches now back at home.