Will O'Connor

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Will O'Connor is a biological sciences major at University of Maryland and completed a Spanish minor with the courses he completed in Spain.

Why did you choose this program?

I wanted to study in Spain so I looked at the programs my university partners with. I had the option to go to Madrid, Bilbao, Grenada, or Valencia. Ultimately, my decision was made mostly because I found Valencia the most appealing city out of my options. It is a nice size where I could bike to everything and it is right on the Mediterranean Sea, plus it is a very pretty city.

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

Almost everything was organized by my program. There was an optional group flight from which I would have been picked up directly from the airport followed by a week long excursion in Madrid. I chose not to do the excursion so I had to fly to Valencia on my own and get from the airport to my apartment on the metro. The program helped find the housing and sign up for courses and trips.

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

I would advise anyone going into the USAC Valencia program to buy a bike or bike share pass right away. At first, I was taking the bus to the University but I much preferred biking. The weather was almost always great and the city has bike lanes connecting everything. I would also suggest looking up language exchanges on Facebook because it is a good way to meet Spanish people and practice the language.

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

I had classes from 11:45 until 2:45 Mondays-Thursdays and three activity classes (Spanish cooking, Spanish dancing, and sailing) one evening per week each, although none of the activity classes were the entire semester. The program organized trips for us to surrounding areas such as parks, wineries, and castles every couple weeks. The rest of the time was free.

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

I had never traveled alone so I was most nervous about the initial trip over. I could have opted for the group flight but decided not to. I I made sure to look up everything about the metro lines I would need and to download a map on my phone before going and went to the bank to get euros before leaving in case anything went wrong with my debit card (nothing did).

What is the best way to meet Spanish people?

I initially had more trouble than I expected meeting anyone who was from Spain. I met people from all over Europe in my apartment because there were a lot of ERASMUS students but the Spanish people were harder to find. I joined a language exchange program at my university and then found other language exchanges online and ended up with some good Spanish friends.