Program Reviews

I studied abroad in Alicante, Spain in May 2019. I went with Spanish Studies Abroad, took classes Monday-Friday at the University of Alicante and stayed with a host family. My first big takeaway from this experience was the language. My goal is to attend medical school after graduation from Marian. I have a Spanish minor in the hopes that I will be able to communicate with future patients in their first language to make them feel more comfortable and open. There is an ever-growing population of Spanish-speakers in the United States and I feel it is very important to attempt to bridge that language gap in whatever ways I can. I believe that my time in Spain has given me some of the necessary skills to achieve this goal. I have become more proficient in my Spanish conversation skills and have learned many words and phrases that will help me in the future.
My second takeaway from studying abroad is how vast the world is and how much there is to explore. My study abroad experience opened my eyes to a different culture and created an excitement to learn about cultures other than my own. I learned about the Spanish culture first hand and being fully immersed opened my eyes to the things I take for granted in my own life. I feel like I learned so much within the 4 weeks that I was in Spain, but I know that I did not get a chance to experience a fraction of the full Spanish culture! I am now even more excited to travel to new countries in the future.
I would absolutely recommend studying abroad to all students! No matter what your major or career goal is, studying abroad is an amazing experience to receive course credits and to immerse yourself into different cultures. There is always something else to learn about other countries through studying abroad. It is an unforgettable and life changing experience and I would recommend staying abroad for as long as you can!

My semester abroad in Sevilla was the greatest time of my life! I made tons of amazing memories, friends, and had a great support system with my program, so I never felt like I was unsafe or had to worry about anything. The classes I took at the Center for Cross-Cultural Study were both challenging, but also fun and helpful. The professors are super nice and enjoy teaching their students. I enjoyed the different immersions and activities our school offered as well, like our trip to Granada and getting to visit different museums in the city. I stayed with a host mom and was able to live like the locals and improve my Spanish, and also learn some Spanish slang (¡que guay!). I'm glad I studied abroad in the Spring so I could experience Semana Santa in Spain and Feria de Abril because they are definitely note worthy experiences. The one thing I miss most from my semester abroad is not having classes on Fridays! It was an incredible program and I wish I could rewind time.

I completed the Spanish Studies Abroad Teaching Practicum in Seville, Spain! It was an incredible experience and I gained an impressive mark on my resume. This really allowed me to grow as an educator and develop my Spanish skills. I partnered this Practicum with 2 sessions of classes beforehand. I think this is my favorite part about customizing your own abroad experience. I was able to stay with a local family in the beautiful barrio Triana and learn about the history. Spanish Studies Abroad helped us to connect with outside adventures in Europe. We were able to visit many different parts of Spain, and travel beyond! I think Spanish Studies Abroad provides 1:1 connections unlike any other program I looked into. I highly recommend future educators utilize this program or create your own like I did!

The SSA staff were all fantastic and very easy to talk to. They wanted to make sure I succeeded and were always very friendly. My host mother was kind and I really enjoyed her cooking. My classes weren't too difficult or too easy. I really enjoyed the subjects and relished field trips. Overall, the city was unbelievably fun and entertaining. Barcelona is a great place to go if you're LGBT. I budgeted my money well in this mid range European city and didn't need to sacrifice good food and drinks to do it. I would go back in a heartbeat.

This was the most amazing experience of my life hands down. I stayed with a mom in a typical Spanish neighbourhood across the river from the city center. She was the most genuine and welcoming woman I have met and she made the tastiest food ever. I cannot express enough how great my professors were as teachers, but also as friends and mentors who were invested in my well-being. I had an invaluable experience that will be with me for the rest of my life. I made friends that I will never forget and experience what it was like to really live in a different culture.

My year in Spain was hands down my best year of college. It is surely hard to beat spending 9 months in Southern Spain, traveling all around Europe, learning about new cultures, improving my Spanish language skills and meeting tons of amazing new people.
My Spanish host family welcomed me into their home and their lives; my host mother frequently invited me out to eat with her friends and I got to spend a lot of time with my 9 year old host sister and brother. Living with a family makes the experience so much better! They really helped me fully immerse into the culture and helped me improve my Spanish.
The classes at the center were interesting, and not too difficult. The professors are easy to talk to and have a lot of knowledge about what they teach and about Spain in general. Not having classes on Fridays gives students the chance to explore more of Spain!
Overall this was an amazing experience that I will truly never forget. I would do this all over again if I could, and would recommend this program and this city to anyone!

Seville is an amazing city, and Spanish Studies Abroad has a lot of experience with helping students deal with homesickness, culture shock, and pretty much any other issue that might present itself. Seville is a great city to immerse yourself in both the language and culture and SSA does a great job of making the transition a smooth one. The variety of program options make it easy to find one that will fit well with nearly any major, from business to pre-med and just about anything in between.

Because I was looking for a shorter program due to a summer job beginning in early May back at my home university, I stumbled upon the Spanish Studies Program with Spanish Studies Abroad in the beautiful city of Alicante, Spain. The city itself is located on the Mediterranean coast and has tons of charming, gorgeous little pueblos just a short train ride away, which allows for not only fulfilling day trips to exotic-looking locations, but also a day trip that fits right into your budget by using your tram pass that takes you to class daily and spending maybe a euro on another train. Your host mom even packs lunch and you can be back in time for dinner! If you don't want to travel, there's a beach just a hop, skip, and a jump from your home stay along with all the shopping you could imagine, bars, and wonderful cafes like my favorite, Canada Cupcake. I did not hear a single complaint about home stays from anyone in my program and I don't have a single one except I wish we lived closer and I could visit now! As for the ladies in the program, my only complaint is the same: that I miss them and wish we could visit! I have grown up in a very creative environment and am a performing arts major, so one difficult adjustment for me was the lack of opportunity to play instruments. These ladies looked high and low for a place where I could express myself musically and when their search came back fruitless, one of the wonderful ladies went so far as to offer her very own guitar to me! I was very impressed with that and though I declined, the sentiment was touching. My professors were equally concerned about our adjustment process and constantly checked in with us to make sure we were well-adjusted and enjoying our time abroad. One professor I had for most of the semester was named Santiago and he was by far the best professor I have ever had. He taught us new vocabulary to express ourselves better, only spoke in Spanish but made sure we understood every single word, and checked in with us one-on-one to discuss our plans for our vacations, weekend trips, and to hear about our adventures. Last but not least, I was lucky enough to have saved enough and lived frugally enough in Spain to be able to visit 14 countries! That included meeting family I had in Paris and Germany. I did most of this by train over our long spring break and backpacking through Europe is an experience I would not trade for anything. However, every weekend I did travel somewhere else as well. I visited the beautiful Barcelona, San Sebastian, Madrid, Mallorca, and Bilbao in Spain (along with the little nearby pueblos I mentioned earlier). My program also had free trips to the castle in Alicante, Granada, and Valencia! This program was truly a blessing to my life, gave me the opportunity to see a large portion of Europe, and gave me the support and confidence to travel (alone at times) to see what I wanted to see. I would highly recommend this program to anyone.

My pictures were too big to upload, but if you're interested, here is a link to a file in my Google drive with some pictures https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0ByMQbxPrHXO0WlpwWjk…

Studying abroad was the most challenging experiences in my life thus far, yet it was the most rewarding. There is not a day that goes by when I don't think about my trip. It was worth every penny! I look forward to the day I can return and learn more.

The city of Sevilla was beautiful and exciting every day. I loved going to school and the faculty at the center were very supportive and engaging. I really improved my Spanish as well!

Nevertheless, the actual program was rather underwhelming. I loved my host family, but it took over a month to switch housing arrangements when I wasn't pleased with my first one. Additionally, the staff did not create a very welcoming atmosphere. There was hardly any orientation and no group bonding between other students.

Overall, I loved my time abroad, but I don't think the program itself added much to my experience. Instead it was the awesome culture and host family I had.