CEA Study Abroad in Madrid, Spain

I come from a small town so moving to a big city scared me especially in Europe, but with the help of the great onsite staff and my host mom the experience was amazing. The best thing for me was the amount of different things you could do. Madrid has a little bit of everything so you could stay busy and be adventurous and explore different parts of the city. Each part being unique and having its own little style, aside from the uniqueness the variety of dishes and desserts that there was was another great thing that Madrid had.

CEA helped me tremendously with the application process and everything before departure. They reached out a lot and answered all my questions. During the semester, they were responsive and helped though anything that I needed. They created a good community within the program and I made some great friends with people in the program. The excursions were fun and activities set up by the program. The housing was also great and very central in the city. I would highly recommend CEA for anyone wanting to study abroad.

I absolutely enjoyed my study abroad experience with CEA. They made sure to give clear instructions pre-departure and made me confident in my ability to succeed abroad. The staff are always so friendly and willing to help. Throughout my time in Spain, the planned excursions and activities made me feel closer with my friends, and certainly pushed me out of my comfort zone! I wouldn’t change anything in my study abroad experience, I would definitely recommend CEA for students thinking about going abroad!

I had the best time in Madrid thanks to CEA. I was able to live with all my best friends from college (2 boys and 3 other girls), and they were very accommodating when it came to the application process. CEA wants you to have an amazing time when you study abroad in their program, so the whole staff and advisers are very willing to help. I really enjoyed all the cultural engagement activities and excursions we went on, and I learned a lot from them too. We went to Sevilla, Spain, and I was thoroughly impressed with the luxuriousness of the hotel they booked for us! It was also very nice that they booked our train tickets next to our friends, and booked the hotel rooms with our friends as well. CEA also took us out to a Dinner and Flamenco show, and at the end of the year they gave us a Farewell Banquet to thank us for being a part of CEA. It truly makes you feel like you're part of a family. Although I'm sad that I'm about to leave, it warms my heart to know that there is such a great staff to help others enjoy their time abroad in the years to come.

My start to my study abroad program was far from perfect. I had left personal problems pending at home, I was having health problems, and I was overall having trouble adapting to the big city. A friend I made through the program recommended I spoke to our program director about everything that was going on. The next day, I emailed our program director and she set up a meeting; she took me out for coffee and we spoke about everything that I was dealing with. She guided me every step of the way and checked up on me through out the semester to make sure I was well taken care of. The CEA staff took us in as part of their family and showed us Madrid through their eyes. I can't wait to go back and visit!

I had a stellar time abroad in Madrid this past semester, and a large part of that was thanks to CEA. The on-site staff team were incredible (Thanks Silvia, Alvaro, and Emilia!) and they did a great job at making the transition to Madrid as smooth as possible. Throughout the semester, the staff were readily available to answer any questions and were quick to resolve any issues that arose. Additionally, the excursions and trips made up some of my best memories, and helped to enrich my experience abroad. My parents were grateful for all the planning that the CEA team did before I left, giving them some peace of mind as I headed across the Atlantic. I highly recommend this program!

CEA Madrid is an incredible program and I am very glad that I made the decision to study abroad with CEA. They really help you become allocated with your brand new location and take you step by step to make sure you are all set to embark on a semester abroad. That being said, if you ever need anything throughout the semester the on-site contacts are very easy to get ahold of. Also, the weekend trips and Friday excursions were amazing. I highly recommend to attend as many as you can because they are all included in the program cost! I highly recommend CEA.

I was only 15 years old when my Dad sat both my brother and I down and broke the news that as a family, we would all be moving to China. I had lived in the same house in the same town my whole entire life, and I did not know what to think. Two years later, I was on a plane back to America with an invaluable experience and an itch to venture out into the unknown. Once I became a sophomore at the Virginia Military Institute, I became eligible to study abroad. I decided that since I had already been to Asia, I would try to conquer Europe. CEA was enormously helpful at every step of the application process. When I arrived in Spain I didn't not know to expect; I knew Asia, but not Europe. I had elected to be put into a house with eight other college students. I got along very well with my housemates (probably due to the personality tests that matched us up) and ended up travelling all over Europe with them. I studied at the Universidad de Nebrija, which was a small private school located inside the city. Classes were about 80 minutes long and they alternated between Monday/Wednesday and Tuesday/Thursday. There was no class on Fridays so that you could get an extra start to the weekend and have more time to explore all of Europe. I took international business classes (in English) along with a Spanish class and really enjoyed the teachers and the curricula. Here at the school, you were able to meet people from other programs and continue to build your network of abroad friendships.

The culture of Madrid is very slow paced. It is a great option for someone to break away from the stress of their regular college life and relax for a semester. It is fairly easy to get around Madrid, with the metro, cheap ubers, and reliable bus systems. The food options inside Madrid are relatively diverse, so you always have an option for something different to eat. Produce at the local grocery store is significantly cheaper than it is in the states, allowing you to have some freedom with your budget elsewhere. The local people are friendly and will do their best to communicate with you and help you on your language skills if you put in the effort. the Madrid airport is a major airport in Europe, making flights both in and out of Spain relatively cheap and travel around Europe fairly easy. The Spanish railway is a cheap and great option to visit places

CEA offered many opportunities to immerse yourself into the Spanish and Madrid culture. From meal excursions, to museum trips, to paid weekend excursions to Barcelona and Sevilla, I felt like I was provided with the best opportunities to see Spain and Madrid. The CEA staff were very friendly and would always responded to emails concerning recommendations or other questions.

I left this program feeling more confident in myself and my language capabilities. I am a more capable traveler, and I made some lifelong friends that I have made plans to visit over this past year. My favorite memory was riding a camel in Morocco one weekend, and then snowboarding down the Swiss Alps the next weekend. If you are looking for a semester to step back and take a breath while simultaneously becoming immersed in a whole new culture and lifestyle, look no further.