CEA CAPA Education Abroad in Madrid, Spain

I had an absolutely incredible time with CEA CAPA during my program. While abroad, I took part in the program "International Perspectives in Healthcare," where I was able to both study and shadow physicians abroad. I strongly recommend this program to anyone, especially those pursuing a career in healthcare. This program opened my eyes to so many aspects of healthcare that I had never been exposed to before. Exploring universal medicine, along with making connections with classmates, my professor, and Spanish physicians, was truly invaluable.

I had the most amazing time abroad!! It was truly a once in a lifetime experience. A few challenges that I had was school. I am studying engineering and the classes I took in order to be able to graduate in time were difficult. My professors never took it easy on American students and I really had to work had in order to pass my classes. As well as the school that I attended was an hour commute so a lot of my days were spent on the metro/train commuting. That was the only negative experience I had abroad. I had the greatest time exploring Madrid, different cultures, and traveling around Europe. I might be biased but I do believe Madrid is the most perfect city in the world and I can't wait to return. CEA CAPA set us up in the best way! I had an amazing apartment that was right near the center of the city. I could just about always walk somewhere. CEA CAPA also provided free trips to 3 different cities near Madrid, dinners, and shows. They gave us opportunities to learn about Spanish culture for free because they know a lot of people have concerns about money when going abroad.

I loved how studying abroad made me more independent. Constantly buying flights and figuring out public transportation in different countries has helped me grow. Living in Europe is a completely different experience than living in the USA. CEA CAPA did an amazing job of helping students with everything along the way. They gave many opportunities to meet people, volunteer, and intern. I really enjoyed taking classes in Spanish, as it is 1 thing to speak a language but different to actually learn content in it.

Studying abroad in Madrid, I was able to immerse myself in Spanish culture with the help of CEA CAPA! Included in my program costs was a big beautiful apartment I shared with 8 other girls (which sounded daunting at first, but it truly was so spacious that it didn't even feel like 9 girls lived there), trips to Toledo, Segovia, and Sevilla, a cooking class where we made paella, tortilla de patatas, and a delicious almond cake, a flamenco show that included dinner, tapas night where we sampled different tapas, and visiting a Palace de Aranjuez near Madrid!

This program helped me grow educationally, professionally, and personally. I chose this program due to my interest in both Education and Psychology. I was able to experience education from a different point of view that had allowed me to apply now to different experiences back home. I was greeted every day with the wonderful CEA CAPA team in Madrid and found a second family while abroad. This program provided educational excursions that work well along side the course. The Madrid team as well was caring and thoughtful all while out there. I got to share an amazing apartment and make lifelong friends. This course itself allowed me to grow in my academics as a I was challenged with new activities as well as a place where I applied what I learned in every day. If I could I would do it all over again , I highly recommend this program and all it has to offer.

Studying abroad in Madrid was a wonderful experience. I loved feeling fully immersed in the rich culture of Spain and the CAPA staff helped make that transition incredibly smooth. Spain is a great place to be for culture, art, architecture, traveling, food, and so much more so I would definitely recommend it! I loved going to the various world-class museums in Madrid and even walking around the city you'll find interesting pieces of design and creativity that are all rooted in a deep history which is incredibly fascinating.

I do not speak lightly when I say how much I loved studying abroad in Madrid, Spain. I love hoe CEA CAPA provided trips to see other parts of Spain and other cultural activities to immerse students in the beauty that is Spanish heritage. Depending on the exact program chosen, some classes can be very intensive and a different learning method than what we are used to, therefore, they can be a hard adjustment. Such is the life of an engineering student though! Aside from that, I have no complaints. I would go back again and again if I could and will never forget the experiences and life-long friendships I made along the way.

I am so grateful for the positive experience I had in Madrid. The locals were very forgiving of my attempts to speak Spanish (plus, English is so universal these days that it's reassuring to know you can fallback to it), the public transportation is very accessible, and the culture is so rich in cuisine and pride. Moving to Madrid without knowing a single person in my program was the best experience of my life. I saw so many international students stick with their hometowns friends for the entirety of the program, but I allowed myself to go out of my comfort zone and befriend people I would have never met if I hadn't gone abroad. I learned to work with classmates from all over the world. As someone who grew up in California their whole life, I have now broadened my professional and social network to the European Union and East Coast of the US. I reflected on my personal growth and journey abroad in a way that I would never have done otherwise. I'm so thankful for taking this opportunity!