Close your eyes and imagine being in a whole other country. Many different faces pass you by on the streets and new foods and flavors are introduced to your taste buds. What you now call “home” overlooks a view filled with foreign landscape straight out of a postcard. What if this wasn’t a fantasy? What if you were really living this wonderful dream?
This is no dream for Junior, Celeste Sandoval, who is currently partaking in her yearlong venture within the beautiful country of Spain. I had the pleasure and privilege to get the latest information about her tremendous journey.
January currently marks Celeste’s 5th month of being abroad and in her opinion “time has not just flown…it has passed without notice”. Although spending so much time away from the warm California sun, she doesn’t hesitate to say that in her time away she has aged so much.
Celeste is part of a yearlong study abroad program where she attends classes at the Complutense University of Madrid. Here she is able to take courses in order to fulfill requirements for both her Film Studies and Spanish major, which will then get transferred over to UCI once completed. Celeste describes this program as getting the wild opportunity to observe how different and alike we are compared to the Spanish students and the way professors run the classes. She states, “Getting lost in the middle of lecture is common and after experiencing such frustration because of that, I’ve realized that I have a whole newfound respect for foreigners and 2nd language speakers in the United States.” While on this trip, Celeste has been fortunate enough to travel to other exotic places and her favorite place so far has been Morocco. She describes this experience as not only being the greatest experience of studying abroad but it has been the greatest experience of her life. “It’s as though that country physically uncovered this heavy veil from my very eyes with the amount of knowledge and eye-opening lessons it faced me with. I now have a sense of appreciation for that small crack in the road, the cooing of that baby in a stroller, and the laughter coming from the group of youngsters in the street. Life is beautiful, people are beautiful and thanks to Morocco, my senses have awakened.”
Although new and exciting things surround Celeste, she cannot help but long for loved ones back home. Living in the absence of important people, friends, and family has been a challenge all in itself. “I talk to my family on a weekly basis and my amazing boyfriend almost daily” She also misses her college life back at UCI saying, “I miss the warm sun that blankets my body as I cross the Humanities bridge to my film classes, cheesy warm Mexican food, Thai food, Pho… I miss the lovely ladies of Kappa Alpha Theta, my friends, and passing familiar faces on campus.”
Through this amazing experience Celeste has already learned so much and she will remain learning and growing as her voyage continues. She stated that she truly learned how to be on her own and how to really take care of herself through everyday activities like keeping track of her own money, actually cooking for herself, shopping for herself, and finding her way around the city all gave her new challenges. With each new experience embracing a newfound confidence and bravery.” I used the words ‘Study Abroad’ to describe the adventure I was about to embark on… but now I like to call it… My real life experience; trust that these words are not spoken in vain.”
A Note from Celeste:
I recommend this experience to EVERYONE, there isn’t a soul I believe that wouldn’t benefit from, well, seeing the world. To those who do plan to study abroad, low and behold you are embarking on a life-changing quest to see things you’ve never dreamed of seeing, flavors you never imagined you’d taste, emotions you’d never expect to be so over-whelmed by and so much more. Soak in every minute of it, take in all sights, sounds, tastes, and feelings… you’ll be doing yourself such a wonderful favor!