It’s always scary to leave a place of comfort, but sometimes it helps you grow. When I graduated from high school, I moved twelve hours away from home. The transition from living in New York to living in South Carolina was more difficult than I could have imagined. Even so, I grew to love the two very different cultures that I was a part of. That experience affirmed my belief in studying abroad in Seville. I knew that although it would probably take some time, I could adjust and learn to love any environment that I was placed into.
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| Street view |
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| Sunrise over Madrid on the way to Seville |
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| Trees in the Jardines de Murillo |
When I was researching different third party study abroad programs, I was looking for a few things. First, I wanted to go to a place where I could improve my ability to speak another language. For native English speakers, the world has never been so easy to navigate; we have endless tools of translation and globally many people recognize the ability to speak English as an invaluable asset. Still, speaking another language allows you to better understand another culture's values and sentiments. Second, I hoped to live somewhere with a rich, traditional way of life that would be entirely new for me. As one of my professors recently said, entering into a new culture grows the depth of your knowledge about the world around you. Last, I needed a program that would fulfill my degree requirements. As a communication and marketing double major, I needed to be in a program where I could either take an array of business classes or entirely upper level communication classes.
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| Bench in the Jardines de Murillo |
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| View from our home's balcony |
In Seville, the characteristics that I wanted in a study abroad program have been met and then some. The streets here are lined with orange trees and the buildings are painted pastel colors. The people eat and laugh at tables on the streets. An older woman with a dog plays the accordion as you walk down the road to get tapas. You are surrounded by the beauty of the Spanish language and the Spanish people and the Spanish way of life. Classes have been fascinating thus far, and I feel that I am getting an education both in the classroom and in the society I am living in. I have felt so incredibly lucky to be here.
Kelly M. is the Spring 2018 CEA MOJO Blogger in Seville, Spain. She is currently a sophomore studying Communication & Marketing at Clemson University.