My semester abroad in Seville, Spain was a transformative four months during which I learned more about myself, my host country's culture, and the Spanish language. My weekly blog posts were a phenomenal way to track my progress on goals that I established for myself in WLC371. If none of the prompts pertained to what was on my mind and what I wanted to get on paper from that week, I slightly modified the prompt to better suit my journaling thoughts.  

     I chose the prompt about culture shock as my first entry given that the first week abroad was a whirlwind of large cultural changes. In my first journal entry, I talk about a strategy to overcome difficult times or culture shocks, “If something seems completely out of the norm, I discuss with other students in the program or facilitators prior to jumping to any conclusions about my host family as a whole”. This was a fantastic strategy to ensure that I was not making any misconceptions about my host family or my new home in Seville. As I mentioned in the third WLC371 journal entry about the metaphor of culture being an iceberg, “in order to get below the surface of the water and to the bottom part of the iceberg (which makes up the majority of its surface area) significant immersion and time is necessary”.

     Writing down all of the surprises that I experienced was a powerful and useful way to document my “first impressions.” For example, in the first entry about culture shock, I said, “when my host mom told me to sit on the couch less than five feet from the TV and turned on the TV I was furious. The entire reason I chose to live with a host family was to be able to converse in my target language during meals”. However, later during my semester in Spain, I learned from my Spanish advisors that watching the news at mealtimes is actually an integral part of Spain’s culture. This custom that annoyed me at first, later helped me throughout the semester to understand the spanish cultural worldview, while also improving upon my auditory language skills. 

     One of the most eye opening discussions that I had during my semester abroad was during an intercambio session where we reflected on the phrase “Americans live to work whereas Spaniards work to live”. While abroad, I found myself  “working to live” or essentially putting my schoolwork on the backburner and focusing on experiences rather than classes. Additionally, “I found myself going significantly longer periods of time off my phone in Seville in comparison to Elon”. This is due to the cultural difference that in the US discussions often take place on social media, while Spaniards place great importance on face-to-face socialization.

     As I mentioned in my final entry, prior to studying in Spain, the thought of moving away from my home of 20 years, North Carolina, and beginning a career in a larger city terrified me. Studying abroad gave me the independence and confidence to conquer this fear. My semester taught me to accept change with a positive mindset and that by taking risks, there are greater rewards. Furthermore, having analyzed some of the qualities which made my time abroad so meaningful such as “me-time”, work/life balance, curiosity, creative problem solving, and independence, I plan to incorporate them fully into my life both at Elon and after graduation in the real world.