The day before I flew to Madrid to begin my adventure, my mother told me she needed to have a talk with me. Her father, my Grandad, had been declining over the past two years. He used to be one of the smartest, wittiest people I knew, but time had no kindness in its eyes. He was slowing down. He did not remember me the past Christmas and there were fears he would not be around for the next. My mother simply asked if I would like to fly home to attend his funeral if he should decide to pass while I was away. After a few moments of silence, I responded that I wouldn’t. My Grandad was in the Navy. He explored the world over his 20 years in service. He had been to Barcelona and the Canary Islands. He was a fearless adventurer, and I decided then that I would be too. He would have wanted me to adventure like he once did. He would want me to see the world. And it was with that decision in mind that I left for my three months abroad.
While I was away, I met some amazing people and did some amazing things. The four companions that I went with have since become some of my closest friends. We were all going through the same thing and could bond over our shared experience. The country was beautiful and exploring it together created an unbreakable friendship. I will never forget the small moments that will make no sense to explain, but that only they would understand. I love them all very much. We went to Barcelona. We went to Morocco and rode camels in the desert. I took a solo trip to Laufenburg, Switzerland where my dad’s side of the family is originally from. We went to the Canary Islands and scuba dove off the coast of Fuerte Ventura. We partied in seven-story clubs and drank sangria in Toledo. In every way imaginable, it was the best experience of my life… so far.
When the time came to come home, I was ready. I had never been more self-confident, and I missed my family very much. I was itching to see my mother and tell her about my adventures. Then three days before my flight home, I got a call from my mother at five o’clock in the morning. My grandfather had passed away, but they would wait for my return for the funeral. “He had overheard that you would be arriving home soon enough to attend the funeral, so he was able to be at peace,” is how my sister put it. And I did. I watched my Nan cry, and my family come together once again. I was incredibly lucky to be able to make it home in time. Everyone asked about my trip and told me I was making him proud, but I don’t see it that way. He wouldn’t want me to live to make him proud, he would want me to live to make myself proud. That is the Grandad I knew. That is the Grandad who inspires me. If there is one thing I have done this trip, it is made myself proud.
Tom Laufenberg (BS Anthropology) spent the Spring 2025 semester studying abroad in Alcala, Spain at the Universidad de Alcala. Tom had the following to say about studying abroad, “Do it. Even if you think you can’t, you simply don’t know until you try. There is a world meant to be explored, but it will stay waiting for you.”
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