This summer I had the opportunity to travel abroad to Cadiz Spain, and conduct research at the University of Cadiz. I went with a group of seven other students, and we had different professors and employees from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in Spain with us during our stay. For our research each student was paired with a professor at the University of Cadiz based on the student’s degree, experience, and interests. We had a two-day orientation before we left for Cadiz where we were able to meet the other students going, meet some of the program heads from Spain and meet some of the program heads from Chattanooga.
This summer greatly impacted my undergraduate experience, from the friendships I made to the things I learned doing research. The research I conducted this summer involved topics that I had not studied in school yet. I had to learn a lot of difficult topics before I was able to understand what we were doing. This summer has taught me a lot about how to study and teaching yourself difficult academic concepts. It also taught me a lot about how to research different topics and read a research paper. Having the opportunity to live in Spain for the summer and experience a different culture has impacted my undergraduate experience in ways that sitting in a classroom never could.
I will take the experience I had this summer with me to my future jobs and relationships. Being abroad I had to learn how to communicate with people who spoke a different language than I did. This made me figure out ways to communicate with people even through a language barrier. Being in a country where I didn’t speak the native language gave me more empathy for people who come into America and don’t speak English.
While in Spain I got to travel around a good bit, both with the program and on my own. The program took us down to a town called Tarifa in southern Spain. Here we got to see Africa from the coast of Spain, and we were able to explore the city as well as visit some Roman ruins. My mentor was very flexible with working hours and gave me a few days off so that I could travel to different countries in Europe with two of the girls in the program with me. The three of us found cheap (under $100) flights and were able to go to Cagliari an island in Italy and then Luxembourg, Belgium, and Germany.
During my time in Spain, I stayed in a town called El Puerto de Santa Marie and worked in a town just a few minutes away called Puerto Real. Living in El Puerto de Santa Marie was really nice. All the people in the town were really patience with our Spanish and the town was laid out so that it was easy to walk anywhere you needed to go. When we needed to leave the town to go to work or go to Cadiz or anywhere else it was easy to purchase and use our buss cards and train passes. Both the bus card and train passes were cheap to get and lasted for the entire summer. If anyone is thinking about applying to this program or another program that takes students abroad, I would greatly recommend for them to go ahead and apply!
Holland Luttrell (BS Mechanical Engineering) participated in the Summer 2023 international summer learning opportunity for students offered through the Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavors. The International Summer Undergraduate Research Program represents a collaboration between The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and the University of Cadiz in Spain. The purpose of the initiative is to support students to participate in an eight (8) week intensive research experience during the summer in a global environment. Holland had the following to say about studying abroad, “It is a once in a lifetime opportunity that will challenge you and put you out of your comfort zone but is 100% worth it!”
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Thanks for sharing your experience Holly! Those gardens are beautiful. I loved that you found being in a country where you didn’t speak the language gave you more empathy for people who come into America and don’t speak English yet.
It must have been incredibly rewarding, especially with such a diverse group of students and faculty at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The opportunity to work closely with professors based on your degree, experience, and interests is invaluable.