I feel a bit like a broken record these days.
Wednesday is my last day here in Madrid, so I get asked a lot of the same questions. Mostly they are “How was your semester?” or “What was you’re favorite memory?”
Truth be told, I have absolutely no idea. My answer has always been the same. I don’t know what my concluding thoughts are about this trip, but I do know it has been, without a doubt, the best six months of my life.
But I don’t want to turn this column into a sentimental reflection on Europe and Madrid. Rather, I want to open up a dialogue with students and with IU about studying abroad.
This is the second time I’ve been abroad, and the only reason I can say that is because I am lucky enough and privileged enough to have a family willing and able to help me travel, to have worked a number of steady jobs which allowed me to save up enough money to cover my expenses and to have fostered what I feel is a good relationship with my advisors, so I knew coming into Spain what to expect and what my goals should be.
This is not the same for every student. I’m well aware many of my friends and peers back home are absolutely smart enough, capable enough and savvy enough to be able to spend a semester abroad but don’t have the means or support system behind them to do so.
I didn’t realize how important studying abroad was actually going to be, nor did I factor in what a massive effect it would have on my worldview and on myself as a person.
The fact that the option to study abroad is still unavailable to many students is, in my book, not a good thing. We are becoming a global, international culture. We need to foster global, international students.
I believe we need to start putting more of an emphasis on going abroad and opening channels and funding for students who otherwise wouldn’t be able to fund themselves.
I hope my columns while here have reflected the influence a study abroad program can have on a single student.
And, of course, I can’t end without saying how much Madrid has truly allowed me to grow as a person and how much I’ve appreciated my time here.
See you all stateside.
ewenning@indiana.edu
