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Was I wrong? Not entirely. But after six weeks of immersion into Spanish culture, I have zero regrets. In fact, after being home for two months, I’m just disappointed that I can’t remember every moment!
To be fair, not everything was perfect every single second. Living in a homestay, trying new foods, struggling with language, etc. can take a toll on a person—I don’t want to try to convince anybody that their study abroad experience will be 100% perfect. But, after experiencing it myself, hopefully I can give some tips that will help make your study abroad experience 100% worth it!
Too Much All at Once
My biggest problem throughout the six weeks was feeling overwhelmed. There wasn’t necessarily much that I disliked, it just felt like I was experiencing SO MUCH in such a short period of time. I couldn’t take any of it in. I would lay in my bed at night feeling like I blinked and missed it all, and I hated it. In an effort to remedy this issue, I called a friend and asked for advice.
Some people may tell you (as they told me) to simply “live in the moment.” Okay but…how? What does that even mean? I took my friends advice as the answer to that question. She told me that if I didn’t feel like I was able to absorb everything at once, then I needed to find ways to keep track of things so that I could check them out later.
Take Notes
One way she said to do this was to write every possible thing down. So, I bought a little journal. Even though I was busy, I tried to write something at the end of each day. I ended up writing down every single thing I ate, fun things that happened in class, and experiences with my host family. There were days that I chose sleep instead of notetaking, of course, but I did my best to catch up when I could.
Don’t just write down the literal stuff, keep your feelings in mind as well! When you’re in the middle of something overwhelmingly exciting (like a special excursion), try to take note of certain things. Do you feel hot? Cold? Scared? Shaky? Giddy? Latch onto those feelings and attach them to the memory.
Take Pics
Aside from that, my friend told me to keep visual reminders of everything I experienced. When I went on excursions, I took pictures of EVERYTHING, shamelessly. Yes, it’s good to put the phone down and look with your own eyes, of course, but I wanted to save memories in a physical place outside of my brain, and my phone camera allowed me to do that.
Don’t Underestimate Your Senses!
Another tiny but related tip she told me was to hang onto smells. Smell is an underrated sense when it comes to memory—a simple nostalgic sniff can bring you back to a memory you thought you had lost. Take advantage of this when you study abroad! I did my best to take note of any delicious foods I smelled in hopes that I could one day make something similar and end up (momentarily) back in Salamanca. It sounds crazy, but it’s possible!
The Bottom Line
It may be easier said than done, but try not to get too sad if you feel like you’re letting life fly past you while you’re abroad. Your brain will be trying to take in 5000 different things, so it’s perfectly reasonable to struggle with feeling present and engaged. All you can do is take note, take pics, take time to breathe, and have fun! That way, you’ll be able to spend time with all of the memories later.
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Math & English major Caroline Jennings spent the Summer 2021 term in Salamanca, Spain with AIFS with support from the Office of Study Abroad Scholarship.
You can start planning your adventure abroad today! Dive in to our Explore page at https://studyabroad.uark.edu/explore/index.php, and start your program search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/
