How living abroad changed my life
When I first stepped off of the plane and into the Bilbao, Spain airport I was filled with all sorts of emotions. On the one hand, I was very excited about the adventures that were ahead of me and ready to build my Spanish skills to the next level. On the other hand, I was pretty nervous! I was about to meet my au pair host family for the first time in a country that I wasn’t familiar with at all. In an unusual meetup, my host family's housekeeper came on the bus to pick me up. I had never spoken with her before and simply had a picture of what she looked like to find her in the airport. Thankfully, the airport was really small and we recognized each other right away. We introduced ourselves and chatted a little bit about our families, my plane ride and what we were going to do for the rest of the day entirely in Spanish. We got on the bus and went back to the apartment together. And thus began my life-altering study abroad trip.
Sometimes when I say that my study abroad experience was "life-altering” to someone who has never lived or studied abroad, it feels like a dramatic phrase. However, in reality it really was life-changing because it changed so many aspects of my life such as how I view the world, how I communicate, how I handle tough situations, my independence and of course, it greatly increased my Spanish skills.
When I went to Spain, I was 20 years old and in my sophomore year of college. In some aspects of my life back then, I still felt like an overgrown teenager trying to “play the part” of a functioning adult. At that time I didn't know what career I wanted or what I wanted to do with my life at all, but I knew I had a passion for Spanish and other cultures so I took a chance at living abroad for a year. Without the comfort and support from my friends, family, American norms and my native language, I was faced with the need to grow and adapt quickly. My first challenge was getting used to being an au pair, or nanny, for my new host family. My second challenge was navigating the city and its public transportation, which, being from South Dakota and never having used public transport, was brand new to me. Lastly, and most importantly, was getting used to speaking and hearing Spanish all around me.
After I was there for roughly a week, I was already getting into the groove of things and feeling more and more comfortable in Spanish and in my new surroundings. My au pair family ended up not working out (that's a different story for a different day), but, once I moved in with another host mom, everything fell into place. Although I still faced challenges every now and then, getting through the first two months of bumps in the road helped build my confidence to a level I didn't know I had in me. I went from not feeling confident about small things such as going to new group events alone or speaking Spanish to the locals, to going out late at night with my Spanish friends and taking public transportation all around the country just because I felt confident in my abilities. So it's safe to say that my confidence and independence grew tremendously while I was abroad.
I also gained an immense amount of pride and joy from growing my Spanish skills. The first three months I felt like I was just working on understanding all of the new vocabulary that I was being introduced to. There were so many words that I didn’t realize that I didn’t know but quickly learned. After those first three months, I really started to break out of my shell and had more confidence to hold longer and more complex conversations. I would regularly attend language swaps or “intercambios” to practice Spanish and make new friends. The more I spoke, the less I cared about the mistakes I was making in the grammar and vocabulary and the more I cared about the connection I was making with another person. A pivotal part of my Spanish speaking journey was when I started to be able to make jokes in Spanish. Laughter is such a huge important part of my day-to-day life, so cracking jokes helped fuel my passion to keep going and keep learning.
It can feel intimidating to study abroad with unknown factors, such as living with a new host family or navigating a language in a new country, but from my perspective, I can tell you that it was completely worth it. The growth I saw in my Spanish skills, independence and self confidence was something I couldn’t put a price on. As humans, we don’t grow in places where we’re comfortable, so I implore you to challenge yourself in new settings and watch yourself flourish.
Thinking about studying abroad with ASU? Here are your next steps:
- Check out a Study Abroad 101 session with the Global Education Office.
- The Global Education Office has a lot of great information to look through. Check out their section about getting started.
- Come talk to one of our advisors about your plans and we can help you figure out the ideal semester to go and what study abroad classes might be applicable to your language major or minor.