USAC

I enjoyed my time abroad greatly. The courses were very small and had wonderful professors that loved teaching. The grading was a bit tougher than in the United States, but the professors worked with me. I enjoyed the surfing class a lot. The support staff were super nice and helpful with travel and sickness. I loved my host family. All of the students in the program were great, and we had a fun community. The excursions that the program provided were very enjoyable, and I wish we had more opportunities like that.

I had the privilege of participating in the 2022 San Sebastian Summer program. Words cannot articulate how special this experience was for me, but I hope that the fact that I am already planning a trip back/ have concrete plans to visit my peers that I met through this experience speaks for itself. When people ask about my study abroad experience, I think they may sometimes regret it because I can go on for an eternity about the amazing friendships, culture immersion, global contacts, and sense of travel identity that it gave me. San Sebastian is the most perfect combination of nature, nightlife, rich culture, cleanliness, and safeness.

The program leaders in Donostia went above and beyond planning and communicating events to the point where I did not want to travel to other countries on free weekends the way I thought I would because my beautiful host city always had something amazing to offer. However, on the off chance I did want to travel they were there every step of the way helping me plan the (unaffiliated with school) trip.
The program leaders, specifically Patricia, looked after me as if I was one of their own when I fell ill which is more than any parent who is sending their student abroad or sick college kid like myself could ever hope for when in a stressful situation as such. The last praise I want to give to the staff goes straight to the teachers! Marina helped me learn more in 6 weeks than I learned in 2 years of High School Spanish, I left Spain with more Spanish confidence than I ever thought I could have.

Although this is not a complaint, I did want to explain my one 9/10 stars in the housing category. The range of living situations is vast and it would have been nice to been informed of this however, it in no way negatively affected my experience. I was blessed to have lived in a quaint apartment near the ocean that had one of the most genuine and kind local landlords/ human beings I have ever met. The landlord was an older Basque gentleman who showed my roommates and I the upmost hospitality. Although we were on the lower end of housing size, quality, and distance from the school, I honestly would not have traded it for a "nicer" placement because it was extremely homey and safe.

The Spanish class put me outside of my comfort zone in the best way possible; we learned extremely fast paced yet efficiently. The workload was very reasonable and there was always easily accessible teacher support. The surf class gets an easy 10 stars, as it was one of the most rewarding and fun experiences I have ever had. The instructors were so patient, outgoing, and personable.

As cliche as it sounds, USAC studying abroad was everything I could have wish for and some. I left with lifelong friends and the biggest place in my heart for new cultures.

You will want to build a strong but well-proportioned itinerary when traveling to Prague that gives you enough time to pursue the activities that are most meaningful to you. Doing this additional step of research allows you not to become overburdened by the historical sights that Prague has nor bored after visiting those sights. My main recommendation is to follow Prague-based social media groups to see the varied social events that occur on the weekends or what have you. Look up transportation passes in advance, because buying through the machines in the metro stations is vastly overpriced. Then, check on acquiring Czech currency beforehand, or check how your credit card handles international purchases.

Studying abroad in Valencia allowed me to immerse myself in the Spanish culture within a larger city. Valencia was the perfect place to feel like a local rather than a tourist as places like Barcelona and Madrid were overwhelming in regards to the amount of tourists in the city. Valencia was a very family and local oriented city, not many people spoke English so it was a good challenge and helped with learning more Spanish. The apartment housing through the program was fine. The neighborhood that we were placed in was a family oriented. There were a lot of kids around and a very cute place on the outskirts of the city center. The metro is incredible and can take you anywhere in Valencia. Learn how to use the metro, it is simple and efficient and I wished I had learned it earlier rather than walking long distances or taking a taxi.

My classes were good. My Spanish language classes were great. The professors only spoke Spanish which really helped with learning the language. The amount of work was never overwhelming but insanely manageable. The university that we were at was great. There were so many programs that allowed for the abroad students to get involved. We also had access to the gym and such. I wish we had more information given by our program about our university.

My favorite part about studying abroad was being able to travel every weekend! I would highly recommend doing that. It was so easy and cheap. We were able to take the metro to the airport and then take a cheap flight to basically anywhere in Europe.

The beach in Valencia was great and just a walk away after class each day.

Overall, Valencia was the perfect spot to be immersed completely in the Spanish culture and truly feel like a local. It was not overwhelming like Barcelona and Madrid and no where near as many tourists which was nice. I wish I was able to do it all again. It was such a great experience and would highly recommend this program to anyone.

#WritetoWin

My experience in Montevideo was a great way for me to practice my Spanish and learn about Uruguayan culture. I had the opportunity to stay with a host mom and 2 other American students, which was one of my favorite parts of the program. I lived only about 15 minutes walking distance from the host university campus. Montevideo is a great cultural center with lots of museums, live music, and soccer games. I always felt safe while walking in the city. If you’re looking for Spanish immersion, it’s a great place to go. Lots of young people know English, but mostly everywhere I went, I had to speak in Spanish. The USAC program is so supportive and the directors and faculty truly want you to have a great study abroad experience. My class sizes were small, so there was a lot of individual attention given to each student. I highly recommend this program to any student that’s looking for a program in Latin America thats unique to the region!