Studying in Valencia, Spain, over the summer was one of the, if not the, most memorable experiences of my life. Even though Covid-19 made it more difficult to travel while living in Europe and more frustrating residing in Spain. I am still extremely grateful I got to see the places I did and experience the things I did while living in Spain. Not only were the places I saw while in Europe a fantastic experience, but the people I was studying with from different parts of the United States were fantastic as well. While living in Valencia, Spain, located on the East Coast of Spain directly South of Barcelona, I studied at UPV. I studied at UPV for both Summer term one and Summer Term two; for term one, I studied international business and windsurfing in the Mediterranean sea. For session two, I studied operations management. The professors for all my courses were fantastic and cared a lot about what they were teaching us. It was a really cool experience to learn in a different setting and in such a different environment altogether.
While studying and living abroad, my friends and I traveled to various countries and experienced an assortment of different cultures. The first trip we took was to Mallorca, one of the three islands off the coast of Spain. Mallorca was a fantastic experience because I was granted the ability to go cliff jumping, zip-lining, and free solo climbing. Free solo climbing originated from Mallorca because it is easy to maintain your grip while climbing without a harness on the rocks. The second trip our group took was to the island of Santorini in Greece, where I tried some of the best gyros of my life. On top of the fantastic gyros, I went on a sunset cruise on a catamaran where I explored the different islands of Greece and learned about the long history of the surrounding islands. We went on the third trip to Seville, Spain, located to the south of Spain, where I attended my first major soccer game. After staying in Seville for just over twenty-four hours, we took a 5am flight to Barcelona, where we stayed for four days. Barcelona is by far the number one place I recommend visiting if you were to go to Spain. The culture, diversity, and vibe of Barcelona was unlike any place I have ever been. While living in Spain, the last trip was to Prague, the Czech Republic, which was my personal favorite. The history of Prague is something to be amazed by, and the city indeed resembles this and makes you feel like you’ve been transported back in time to medieval times. The food, people and history in Prague is definitely something I recommend to everyone who can go visit while in Europe. All in all, I am incredibly thankful for the memories, the things I learned and experienced while studying abroad, and something I 100% recommend to anyone attending college.
Cole Pray is majoring in Finance and spent Summer 2021 interning in Valencia, Spain through USAC. Cole had the following to say about study abroad, “Studying abroad was one of my most memorable/influential experiences ever and something I will never forget.”
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