Cadiz-Summer : Testimonials (Cadiz)
The following program testimonial responses have been selected for publication by UGA StudyAway
Final Reflection Questions
What were the most significant take-aways from your experience?
Became a lot more confident in my Spanish skills and learned a lot from my teachers.
— Lauren Lauterbach, Summer 2016 |
What were the most significant take-aways from your experience?
The relationship I built with my host family is something that I could never have imagined. They truly became family to me, and I will never be bale to thank them enough for the love and hospitality they showed me and my roommate.
— Carolyn Nasser, Summer 2016 |
What were the most significant take-aways from your experience?
There are amazing places all around the world, but what really makes a place special is the people that you are with. Make new friends everywhere you go, you don't know when you'll make a new best friend.
— Brandon Reed, Summer 2016 |
What were the most significant take-aways from your experience?
The lifelong friendships I made!
— Rachel Thomas, Summer 2016 |
What were the most significant take-aways from your experience?
I made so many new friends in an amazing place that I probably never would have gotten the chance to go to.
— Madison Bailey, Summer 2017 |
What were the most significant take-aways from your experience?
This experience allowed me to significantly better my spanish skills and confidence. Before this program I was nervous to speak very simple sentences, yet now can communicate relatively well and still talk to my host family on a weekly basis.
— Emily Christian, Summer 2017 |
What were the most significant take-aways from your experience?
I learned so much and feel like I came back a new person.
— Elizabeth Gonzalez, Summer 2017 |
What were the most significant take-aways from your experience?
The most significant take-aways follow: - A strong sense of independence achieved through the program - Growth due to being outside of my comfort zone - A strong increase in my level of Spanish fluency - Understanding, respecting, and appreciating a different culture - Doing things I would never be able to otherwise do / Visiting places I would never otherwise be able to - Learning to grow and travel with a group of people different than me — Arlena Joyner, Summer 2017 |
What were the most significant take-aways from your experience?
My conversational Spanish improved drastically and I feel as though I can speak more like a native spanish speaker now. I also learned more about Spain and the culture than I thought I would.
— Emilia Kairys, Summer 2017 |
What were the most significant take-aways from your experience?
I absolutely loved living with a host family. It gave us that extra time each day to speak Spanish and also also allowed us to immerse ourselves in everyday Spanish life and culture. Overall I just loved speaking Spanish in general and miss speaking it everyday; my fluency and listening comprehension got way better during our time there.
— Allison McCabe, Summer 2017 |
What were the most significant take-aways from your experience?
I met so many amazing new friends that I would never have known if it weren't for the program.
— Emily Morris, Summer 2017 |
What were the most significant take-aways from your experience?
The world is out there for us to explore and if given the opportunity to do so we should take it. Studying abroad in Spain tremendously boosted my confidence in my Spanish speaking, listening, and writing skills. Although culture shock is a real thing, being able to live within another culture with shift your perspective on life and it is worth enduring until the end.
— Anna Parks, Summer 2017 |
What are your words of advice to students considering this program?
I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of this experience and would highly reccommend this program to any student hoping to better their language speaking abilities. I personally saw substantial growth in my Spanish skills and confidence and continue to communicate with my host family on a weekly basis, allowing continual growth. Additionally, I met so many new friends on my program and together we were able to travel and explore amazing new cities and diverse cultures. Overall, this program allowed me to have the summer of my dreams traveling while improving my education and Spanish.
— Emily Christian, Summer 2017 |
What are your words of advice to students considering this program?
Do the program! The experience was absolutely priceless. Not only were the classes fantastic, but the coordinators were wonderful as well. You have time to travel on your own, and to learn and grow with friends that you make while immersed in the culture of Cádiz. The beach is a nice perk, and the included excursions are marvelous as well. Best experience of my life.
— Arlena Joyner, Summer 2017 |
What are your words of advice to students considering this program?
Do it!!!! You will not regret it!
— Emily Morris, Summer 2017 |
What are your words of advice to students considering this program?
Do it! If you really want to improve your Spanish, studying abroad is definitely the best way. Having the opportunity to submerge yourself into another culture is not one that should be passed up. Go with an open mind and be ready for challenges, but in the end it is all worth it!
— Anna Parks, Summer 2017 |
How did the experience impact you and your future educational/career/personal goals?
Because of this experience I want to continue to improve my Spanish fluency because I loved seeing the growth and progress that I was able to make in such a short time period. Additionally, I have decided to add a co-major of international buisness to my degree to be able to utilize these skills further in my career.
— Emily Christian, Summer 2017 |
How did the experience impact you and your future educational/career/personal goals?
I learned a lot living with a host family. I learned to respect a different cultural and adapt to the differences. I believe the program made me a more flexible person for any situation that I will come across.
— Alicia Davoudpour, Summer 2017 |
How did the experience impact you and your future educational/career/personal goals?
I feel like I have a better understanding how different the Spanish culture is to American Culture and my own culture. I feel like I might be able to use my abilities in Spanish in the workforce as is it applicable around here in the US since 25 percent of the population speaks Spanish. Also going to a different country for an extended period of time and actually living there helped me clear out any preconceptions about the country and its culture. Being there helped me realize that there are many things we have in common and nuances that differentiate us between them. As an anthropology and psychology double major, being in this situation allowed me to see things through a different lens and helped me relate what I learned from school about Spain and apply it to this setting. It may have interested me with what type of career in the future that I want to partake in.
— Tiffany Garnace, Summer 2017 |
How did the experience impact you and your future educational/career/personal goals?
I want to travel much more and become fluent in the Spanish language completely! This was my head-start to accomplishing this. Also, I realize that I would not mind working internationally in my future career.
— Arlena Joyner, Summer 2017 |
How did the experience impact you and your future educational/career/personal goals?
I have seen how knowing another language is extremely important in the real world and can help in a lot of aspects. I've decided to take more Spanish classes beyond just completing my minor for it.
— Emilia Kairys, Summer 2017 |
How did the experience impact you and your future educational/career/personal goals?
This was probably the best experience of my life. I thought I loved Spanish before but after living in Spain and speaking Spanish everyday, I have fallen deeply in love with the people and the culture. I am now considering taking a gap year in Spain or doing grad school there. I learned so much and had such an incredible time traveling and living and learning. I cannot even begin to express how incredible of an experience this was or how much I loved it and I would absolutely recommend study abroad to students, especially if you're learning a language and want to immerse yourself; it is truly the best way to learn.
— Allison McCabe, Summer 2017 |