a worthwhile challenge

Before studying abroad, you have no idea what you're about to have. I was in Buenos Aires, Argentina for 5 months, and it was nothing as I had anticipated. My goal was to improve my Spanish communication skills. I succeeded in that goal, but I also accomplished goals I didnt even know I had as a result of the culture contrast between there and the U.S. Overall, I was not academically challenged. I was thankful for the required grammar class because we reviewed and learned grammatical structures, conjugations, etc., through lecture/test taking and oral presentations. I took one other class I found worthwhile and it was a writing class. I had a phenomenal professor who was funny, engaging, respectful, informative, efficient, etc., all the good things about a professor. He would make time to correct our writing assignments outside of class that weren't for his class, for example. One of the professors, for whom I was not a student, took it upon herself to show me a conservatory in La Plata (upon learning I was a music student back home). This program offers the opportunity to meet compelling and compassionate people, and for that I recommend it. I was slightly disappointed with the lack of academic rigor, although peer students disagreed with me on the difficulty. I made peace with this when I had time to explore more of the city and spend more time outside of the classroom, which is what I really needed to gain confidence as a Spanish speaker. Learning outside of the classroom is the essence of studying abroad, and I was thankful for the flexibility of my schedule to be able to do that.