Go to Cordoba!

Everyone dreams about their study abroad experience. You picture it a certain way--envisioning it as the best time of your life, traveling the world, immersing yourself in a new culture and making BFFs. While this little five or six month nugget of your college experience really will fulfill these cliche-d visions, it is a lot more than that. It will challenge you in realizing what you are actually capable of. You will feel awkward, lonely, bold, exhausted and giddy. You will see incredible landscapes that honestly feel like you are stepping into a fairy-tale, contrasted with difficult images of poverty and political corruption that are genuine daily struggles for many of the people you meet, especially in Argentina. But if you are interested in Spanish, if you feel ready to be pushed, if you care about having honest conversations about cultural differences and if you feel a spark to just GO and DO, then you should. Cordoba is small enough where the lack of English speakers will force you to learn Spanish (and speak it), but big enough where you will never be bored.
The Spanish Studies Abroad program is not the most rigorous course load, so if you are looking to be pushed academically, this program may not be for you. However, if you want a good balance of taking classes, traveling, and getting involved in other ways, then this program offers that balance. Your experience is definitely up to your efforts, though. Spanish Studies Abroad will introduce you to a "speaking partner" to practice your Spanish and give you a friend, but it will be up to you to continue this relationship. They will provide awesome professors to teach your classes, but you will choose to listen and gain knowledge from them. You will have to choose to go exploring, initiate conversation with your host family, ask a taxi driver what he thinks about the United States, visit a memorial site of the last military dictatorship in Argentina, or share a choripan with the screaming soccer fan at the Belgrano stadium. All of these things will be up to your doing, but are honestly worth it. My time in Cordoba and with Spanish Studies Abroad was wonderful. Sure, the program has room for improvement like most do, but Cordoba is a great location for Spanish immersion and Argentina offers beautiful people and diversity and fun that deeply impacted me and can do the same for you.