API: Experience Granada, Spain (Scholarships Available)

My time in Granada, Spain, was the most incredible experience in my entire life. It became a home to me. To start, API (specifically my API instructors Curra and Carmen) made the trip so easy and fun. They were there to pick us up from the airport as soon as the study abroad group arrived and made sure to drop us off safely on our last day. They planned excursions to places around Spain such as Sevilla, Cabo de Gata, and Cadiz. All of these trips included guided tours and the ability to explore the cities on our own. Not to mention these trips were some of the most fun days of the trip. Besides the planned excursions, my friends of the study abroad group and I LOVED to travel around Spain, and also to different countries!! I traveled to 5 different countries during my time in Spain, and at least 10 different cities in Spain. It was incredibly safe, cheap, and easy to travel to these places, and I loved becoming so immersed in other cultures. Along with all the fun and traveling, I still did have school. I LOVED school (I never thought I would hear myself say that)! All the teachers at la Universidad de Granada were incredible and I had such a fun learning experience. All of the classes available were primarily Spain based, which was really cool because it really broadened my knowledge of Spain. I can't leave a review without talking about my host family. My host mother and two sisters became real family to me. My mother made me three meals a day (that were SO YUMMY) and I would hang out with my sisters constantly. I became so much more advanced in terms of speaking Spanish too since I spoke it around my home. I 100% recommend to anyone to please study abroad, it will be the best decision you have ever made.

My study abroad experience in Granada, Spain was life-changing. I studied abroad in Granada my freshman year of college, which was at first a very nerve-wracking experience, however, throughout the entire process, API was there to support me and provided me with all of the information I needed to succeed. With the help of this program, I was able to overcome so many of my fears and take part in an experience that opened doors I couldn't begin to understand before I traveled abroad. Ultimately, this experience has opened my eyes to the different ways in which cultures unlike mine are organized and has shaped me into a more independent, self-driven person.

Before my time in Granada, I felt nowhere near ready to start College. Watching my friends struggling to adapt to classes, make friends, and have a positive mindset terrified me. I am forever grateful to Granada for giving me an excellent academic base to prepare me for my higher level classes and for fostering my personal growth. One class that challenged me but kickstarted my passion for Politics was The Politics of Spain and the EU. Thanks to this class, I'm now a Political Science major! My professor cared about our learning and challenged us to think deeply about how democracy acts differently in Spain and in the U.S. Not to mention, the building where we took classes was stunning. One of the most meaningful API activities was a language exchange with local students learning English. I jumped into something that made me uncomfortable, and ended up creating friends and finding similarities with people in a completely different culture. Finally, towards the end of my semester I felt like a local. I miss my routine walk to school, listening to my favorite Spanish music, and my morning tea before class at the local coffee shop. I owe it to Granada and API because I was able to start my first semester at my home University with confidence and maturity.