Given my theme of culture and politics, as well as my major Political Science and my major’s concentration of international relations, I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity GLI offered me by visiting a different country on the other side of the world. For me this was Spain as I had been studying Spanish independently for the previous 2 years, and wanted to visit a European nation the same year that it would be having elections shortly before its government would (temporarily by rotation) begin its tenure as the leading nation in the European Union. 

However, despite my goals of making connections and learning a new language on this exchange I believe the biggest thing I learned about during this semester was myself. Maybe it was just part of growing up, but it’s true when I say that the biggest effects I felt were indirect. Living in another culture is not without its valid apprehensions- finances, grades, phrases, imposter syndrome, and there were times I wished I was back home instead of abroad. It isn’t for the faint-hearted as there are always times you feel like you put in all this work for nothing. Of course there will be things you will wish you could do over and over again. But in retrospect it’s also true I couldn’t have learned everything I had nor made the friends I did, if it wasn’t for those negative parts. As a result, I have a fresh perspective on life that gave me more confidence, not necessarily to become a leader, but an informed citizen who doesn’t give in. Your story belongs to you, that comes with accepting the good with the bad, but regardless of how it turns out you must remember that you’re capable of resilience.