Not everyone is able to go to schools that offer education in a foreign country. If you have the opportunity and the means, go for it!
This past summer, I interned for a nonprofit organization in Barcelona, Spain through my university’s Global Education Office. I was working for a women’s immigration NGO, Mujeres Pa’lante, for two months, and the experience was absolutely life changing.
Throughout my life, I was never a fan of traveling. I never enjoyed the long plane rides or the time changes. I didn’t enjoy living out of a suitcase for ten days and adapting to the new food culture as a relatively strict vegetarian. And I certainly didn’t like being lost in foreign cities with a language barrier and two stressed parents.
My sister, on the other hand, has always been a traveler. She’s been to more countries than I can count, and her list keeps growing. Her biggest regret in college was not studying abroad. When I officially committed to Mason after transferring out of a pretty toxic university, the first thing she said was “now you can finally do a semester abroad!”
I tried to tell her that a whole semester abroad was too much of a commitment for me, but she insisted that was the only way to get the full, immersive experience. I told her that with my negative association with traveling, I was more comfortable doing one of the easier week-long programs, like the winter or spring break programs. After a ton of back-and-forth conversation, we finally compromised on a summer abroad. We decided that I would apply for a social work-based internship in a Spanish-speaking country, since that fit with my majors in Psychology and Foreign Language. She was so excited that I was finally doing this: “You’re going to make so many friends and meet so many cool coworkers and see so many amazing sights and get so good at Spanish and try all the best vegetarian food in the city!” I didn’t really see what all the hype was about.
I hate to say it, but she was very right about all of those things. I grew really close with two of my roommates and one of our friends who lived across the hall; the four of us became inseparable. Both of my coworkers and I had so much in common that it was almost like stars aligned. I traveled all around Catalonia with my friends and saw Montserrat, Girona, Tarragona, Tossa del Mar, etc. I even got to visit Nice and Berlin on two of my weekends off. My Spanish improved tremendously, and of course, I ate more patatas bravas in my time there then I probably will in the rest of my life combined.
It was truly a wonderful experience and I’m beyond fortunate to go to a school that has such great connections with universities and organizations abroad. The great part about doing a program abroad through a well-funded university is that there’s something for everyone. Regardless of where or when you are looking to travel, you are bound to find something that matches your interests. If you don’t want to commit to a full semester-long program, they have shorter options in the winter and summer. Similarly, some summer semester programs are longer than others if you are looking for a program that will consume more of your summer. If you’re looking for an internship, the admissions committee will try their best to place you in a relevant field, and they will continue to find internships for you until you are satisfied. And if your school doesn’t offer too many programs abroad, most universities allow you to apply to their study abroad program as a guest student. Additionally, most programs offer a lot of financial aid for students. They want as many people to participate as possible, and to be honest, I don’t think anyone has ever mentioned that they had a bad experience abroad.
For sure, once I was about a month and a half into the program, I definitely started to feel homesick. I was counting down the days until I could be back in my hometown where I had familiarity, routine, and comfort.
The day finally came. My roommate helped me pack my bags. They gave me a granola bar for the ride to the airport, walked me to my Uber, and hugged me goodbye. I loved sharing a room with them for two months, but I just couldn’t wait to be back home.
But when I got on my connecting flight from Lisbon back to Dulles International, I couldn’t help but think to myself, “wait, I kind of want to do it again!”