Meghan Ormsby

Meghan is a senior at Roger Williams University studying Business Management with a minor in environmental sustainability.

Why did you choose this program?

I chose the Arcadia program because they had several classes relevant to my business major, both through Arcadia University in Barcelona and at UPF in Barcelona. In addition, I heard many amazing things about the Arcadia program from students who previously studied abroad with them. The staff at Arcadia ensures that the student uses their abroad experience to learn, not only to travel the world. Both are extremely important. However, traveling to a new location without any knowledge of the rich history can be cheating yourself out of an eye-opening experience.

What did your program provider assist you with, and what did you have to organize on your own?

At Arcadia University they provided the students with the option of housing in an international apartment (the living situation I chose) or the residential dorms. They also provide the students with a wonderful doctor and free visits. The members of the Arcadia staff also scheduled optional free "field trips" to explore the city for free. These field trips included going to the amazing Park Guell, Tibidabo, Palau de Musica and many more. However, the university did not provide any means of city transportation, a meal plan or a gym.

What is one piece of advice you'd give to someone going on your program?

I wish I had known about the attendance policy and the number of required excursions I had to attend for classes. Some students study abroad and want to travel to a new country every weekend. However, this would be impossible with Arcadia University in Barcelona. I had to attend weekend excursions and only had 8 weekends to travel out of the 4 months I was there. In addition, you are only granted one absence per class. Anything more than this deducts 5 points from your final grade.

What does an average day/week look like as a participant of this program?

I attend class Monday-Thursday (there are no classes on Friday) and a student typically has 4 or 5 classes to register for. During the weekend I often times went on excursions with my classes, some of these excursions are really fun but some are just boring. For example, we went camping at Nou, Girona and even Marseille France with my classes; all for free! Then I went out a couple times during the week.

Going into your experience abroad, what was your biggest fear, and how did you overcome it? How did your views on the issue change?

My biggest fear studying abroad was that I was not going to meet friends that I liked. I went into the program without knowing anybody and that was very intimidating at first. However, after the very first night out in Barcelona, I knew I was going to be okay. I made lifelong friends in the short span of 4 months, everybody got along so well and enjoyed hanging out daily.