Posted 10:03 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024
Lily Eklund in Spain
Hear from Lily about her time studying at Universidad de Alcalá;
“Hi! My name is Lily Eklund and I’m a Biology and Spanish double major. I studied abroad in a direct enroll program at the Universidad de Alcalá in Alcalá de Henares, Spain last summer for the month of June! While there, I took one class on Spain through cinema which was Monday-Thursday for three hours. I greatly enjoyed being in a course with students from all over the United States and learned a lot from my professor, who was a local Alcalá resident. The class was almost entirely based on our midterm and final exams, something that is a bit different from our classes here at UWL.
Outside of school, the town of Alcalá was incredible! It was a bit smaller, which made it fun to explore and created a feeling of comfortability, even far from home. It was also just a short train ride away from Madrid which provided easy access to the rest of the country! I was able to travel to Barcelona, Sevilla, and Toledo on the weekends and it was super cool to see how different other parts of Spain are.
Something that surprised me during my time abroad is how helpful and genuinely welcoming the people are! It was so fun to practice my Spanish and immerse myself in the culture there. Interacting with the people in Alcalá made my experience so much more meaningful.
My recommendations for future students who study abroad is to get out of your comfort zone and try new things! Travel as much as possible, but also get to know the place you’re staying in. It’s nice to have a place that you feel comfortable in to return to after a busy trip. Also, expect for something to go wrong at some point! No trip is going to be perfect, so embrace the unexpected challenges.”