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MU
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Amy Smith
MU in Alicante at the University of Alicante, Winter Semester 2004
"The study abroad program in Alicante is an all-around great program. First, Alicante is beautiful and a wonderful city to live in. I lived with a Spanish woman during the first couple of weeks of my stay and then I lived in an apartment with a Mizzou student and a student from Finland. Both places were only a 15-minute walk to the beach! My home-stay experience was great because I practiced my Spanish a lot and got to eat authentic Spanish food. My host mom was amazing and I am so happy that I chose to live with her. When I lived with friends in an apartment, we lived next to the plaza de torros (bull fighting ring) and next to the outdoor market. It was also a great experience to learn to be independent in a foreign country.
"At the University of Alicante, I got to work on my Spanish speaking skills while taking an intensive Spanish course for a couple of weeks. After that, I took courses with other Spanish students. During the whole course of my study abroad experience, the Mizzou students had two advisors who helped us pick our classes, gave us travel advice, took us on trips, and helped us out with ANYTHING! With the Alicante program, you get to be as independent and adventurous as you want, but you never feel as if you are alone.
"Study abroad provides the perfect opportunity to travel. In a matter of hours, you can be in London, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam or wherever your heart desires. You will learn a lot in the classroom, but so much of your learning experience takes place as you interact with different people and different cultures.
"You may not have the opportunity to spend six months in another country ever again, so seize this opportunity. Look into studying abroad…..you won't regret it!
"If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at aesrh7@mizzou.edu."
Chris Kemp
MU in Pamplona at the University of Navarra, Winter Semester 2003
"My name is Chris, and I'm a Journalism (Strategic Communications) Major and a Spanish minor who studied in Pamplona during the Winter Semester of 2003. Without a doubt, study abroad was the most challenging, rewarding, fun, and overall best experience of my entire college career. Although college itself is a nice four years (or more) between high school and the real world, study abroad has definitely been the icing on the cake and the gravy on the mashed potatoes. Not only did I finally have the opportunity to use my Spanish after so many years of merely learning it in classrooms, I also got to do so in one of the most beautiful countries in the world. The feeling of accomplishment when I finally felt that I could hold an actual conversation with an actual Spanish speaker was incomparable to almost anything I've ever done. Of course, it still wasn't as great as all the friends I made while abroad. Undeniably, it was the people I met who made my experience what it was and, almost a year later, I still talk to them and hope to visit some of them this upcoming summer.
"While I was in Pamplona, I attended the University of Navarra and enrolled in the equivalent of Spanish 205, The History of Advertising, International Relations, and Marketing. I honestly enjoyed my classes, especially International Relations. This class gave me the opportunity to see the world through someone else's eyes, something I think will prove beneficial in whatever career path I choose. I feel now, however, as if my future is forever linked to Spanish speaking people, even though I was only able to stay for one semester in Spain. If I could have stayed for a year, I would have, and I advise others to do the same. Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to returning to Spain soon and possibly teaching English or participating in Peace Corps in a Spanish-speaking country. It's amazing how when a barrier such as language is broken down, you find such an abundance of rewards on the other side.
"If you're thinking about studying abroad in Spain at the University of Navarra and have any questions, please feel free to drop me a line." E-mail: cdkfd0@hotmail.com.
Ed Kampelman
MU in Alicante at the University of Alicante, Winter Semester 2003
"How do I describe the most amazing experience of my life in a paragraph? Studying abroad in Alicante, Spain was the best decision I've ever made. I met people from all over the world, traveled all over Europe, and learned so much about myself. I'm an International Business major with a focus in Spanish, so obviously improving my language skills was an important part of my decision to go abroad. My language skills improved greatly, and I believe being in that setting is the best way to learn the language. I took an intensive Spanish class the first month there. Then, in the months that followed, I took several other classes, such as business, culture, and geography. Some of them were in English, but most were in Spanish. The city of Alicante is perfect: right on the Mediterranean Sea, mountains in the background, and a population of about 300,000. I was able to walk to just about anywhere I needed to go in the city. However, the university requires a 15 minute bus ride. Every single day I think about my time in Spain and the things I learned there. I still keep in contact with many of my friends from Alicante and plan to go back to Europe in the near future to visit.
"If you have any questions about the Alicante program or studying in Spain, please e-mail me." E-mail: esk0ad@mizzou.edu.
Stephanie Haenchen
MU in Pamplona at the University of Navarra, Academic Year 2000-2001
"I really enjoyed my time in Pamplona. The best part about studying abroad is the people you meet. Of course, learning a new language is pretty cool too, but I met some people who will be my friends for life. The school in Pamplona is nice but VERY conservative. It is a private school, which was kind of weird for me. There are crosses in the classroom and chapels in the buildings.
"While studying abroad, I really got the chance to travel. I was able to visit a lot of Spain, Paris and parts of Germany. It doesn't seem like much considering the amount of time I was there, but I wanted to visit as much of Spain as possible.
"If you're trying to decide how long to go, I definitely suggest a year-long trip. Especially if your purpose is to learn another language. After the first semester, I came home for Christmas. I remember feeling like I didn't know enough Spanish when I came home and was relieved to return and learn more." E-mail: stuffyamber@yahoo.com.
Sean Murphy
MU in Alicante at the University of Alicante, Winter Semester 2001
"Hello, my name is Sean Murphy, and I am a senior Marketing major with a Spanish minor at the University of Missouri-Columbia. This past spring of 2001, I studied at the University of Alicante in Alicante, Spain, where I studied Baroque Spanish Literature, Management Control, Strategic Marketing and took a month-long intensive Spanish review course as well. While I was there, I lived with a Spanish family which helped my Spanish speaking skills immensely, and I traveled to nine countries in Europe during my six month stay. In addition to traveling around central Europe, I made several excursions to various cities in Spain and spent countless lazy days on the beach in Alicante. Studying in Alicante was the single best decision I have ever made in my life; it truly was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I count the days until I can return once again to spend more time with my family in a town that has a "trocito de mi corazon para siempre!"
"Please do not hesitate to e-mail me with any questions that you may have about studying in Spain or in Alicante." Email: skm980@aol.com.
Hope Fitzgerald
Academic Programs International (Non-MU Program) in Salamanca at la Universidad de Salamanca, Summmer Semester 2000
"Spain is beautiful! I took an intensive Spanish language course at La Universidad de Salamanca for about 7 weeks and it's amazing how much Spanish I learned in that time. I got 6 hours of Spanish credit out of the program (Spanish 106 and 205), but I think I learned even more than that. Living with a host family was definitely the best way to go-if I had lived in a dorm with other Americans, I never would have had as much language practice. However, I really did have to push myself to use the language with people besides my host mom, since there were so many Americans in the city. Salamanca itself is gorgeous-historic cathedrals, one of the oldest universities in Europe, plenty of winding streets to get lost in-and it's easy to travel from there to the rest of Spain. Salamanca is a city of maybe 100,000 about an hour from Madrid by bus, and about that far from the Portuguese border. Our program was nice because it had built-in excursions to Toledo, Madrid, Bilbao, Portugal, etc, but these extras definitely didn't come cheap. Overall, it was a pricey but wonderful experience. My advice: if you want to study Spanish, study it abroad, and don't use English after your first week in the program!" E-mail: hope_fitzgerald@maktoob.com.
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