All posts by Chase Harrison

My third time participating in the SPC Spanish Immersion Study Abroad program to Salamanca

SPC Spanish Immersion Study Abroad program
Spain 2019, Study Abroad

This is my third time participating on the SPC Spanish Immersion Study Abroad program to Spain which means that it is the third time that I have never wanted to go home. I guess you could say at this point that I am addicted to Spain. I don’t think that there’s a patch though for this type of illness, nor that I would want the cure. If you read about travel and/or about linguistics you have probably heard that when you speak another language that you get to live another life and, that you get to know more about yourself in a way that is impossible in your home country.

Learning Spanish has been a journey in my life that until I started I didn’t even know I wanted. Spanish has been the tool of preparing myself for the future. Once again, a future that I didn’t know I wanted until I began. I was content with completing a degree and going on to work a normal 9-5 job in the states, not that there is anything wrong with that. I was content on never venturing far from home, though I suppose that is a lie.  Something in my soul had been itching to come out. Something inside me wanted more. Now I have it. Gracias a España y especialmente gracias a señora Levin.

Now with over 2 years of studying Spanish I am poised to do one of three things, in this order:

  1. Teach natural sciences in Panama  with the Peace Corps (Approval Pending Physical & Background Check).
  2. Master’s degree in Spanish Florida History at USF with a concentration in Spanish Paleography.
  3. Teach English in España next school year in an exchange program that exists between the United States and España.

I don’t know what the future has in store for me for certain, but I know that whatever road I go down I am going to learn to more, become a better person, and forever be a Spaniard en mi Corazon.

Click here to learn how you can take part in the 2018 SPC Spanish Immersion Study Abroad program.

“My Spain Study Abroad Program led me to amazing opportunities, connections, and friendships.”

Spain Study Abroad Program
Spain 2019, Study Abroad

Never in a million did I think that coming back to school and going to the Spain Study Abroad Program would have led me to such amazing opportunities, connections, and friendships. SPC has been my home for over 3 years now. I have been enrolled in each semester consecutively since I came back in the spring term of 2014. I initially came back to finish an AA degree that I had never completed. That’s where my love affair with the Spanish language began. I’ll be completely honest; I wasn’t exactly thrilled that my degree required foreign language credits. I agonized over the thought of having to take 8 credit hours of any language course. When it came time to take Elementary Spanish I, the course I enrolled in was with Professor Levin of the Tarpon Campus. From the moment she walked into the room, she exuded energy and enthusiasm. Suddenly the prospect of learning another language seemed a little less taxing.

I had always wanted to travel. When Professor Levin explained to us during a class that we could take our second language course requirement abroad with her in Spain, I jumped at the chance. The decision to participate in the Spain Study Abroad Program is, and will forever be, the most defining part of my education. To explain in depth the amount of change, perspective, and enlightenment studying abroad has brought me, would take entirely too long. That first semester abroad made me feel like I was finally making a meaningful impact towards a career goal that I wanted.  When I came home that first summer, the change in me was apparent to everyone. My time in professor Levin’s class, in combination with my Spain Study Abroad Program, made the Spanish language more than a degree requirement. It made it a personal passion that I deeply desired to have as a part of my future plans.

I took Intermediate Spanish I & II  at Tarpon Campus when I came back from Spain in the summer term of 2015. I went to Spain again for Spanish Conversation and Composition I, and took the study abroad working experience course with it in the summer term of 2016. I’m still not satisfied. I still want to learn more. That’s why I’m going yet again this summer for my final and highest possible course offering of Spanish at SPC, Spanish Conversation & Composition II.

Professor Levin knew that I was hungry for my next challenge and informed me of an opportunity to be a student ambassador with Spanish Embassy here in the United States. A student ambassador’s job is to inform fellow students about the wonderful educational opportunities that exist with foreign study in Spain. The appointment comes with weekly and monthly activity objectives, and is rewarded with a potential week trip to Spain, and an official diploma from the Embassy of Spain. Chances are you will see me on a campus promoting Spain sometime during this year. As I prepare to graduate in the fall of this year, I am beyond thankful for all the opportunities SPC has given me, and continues to give me.  More information about what exactly a student ambassadorship is all about can be found at the link below.

http://www.spainedu.org/sis-study-in-spain/sis-student-ambassadors/2017.html

My second program to Salamanca with SPC: “Volver a Hogar”

Spain 2019, Study Abroad

home1A lot of people spend a lifetime searching for a place to feel at home. Many people find that place, and many others can feel at home wherever they go. For me, that place is Spain.

Last year’s study abroad program to Spain was my first time outside of the United States. In fact it was my first time off the East coast in general. I’m entertained by the fact that I have visited more places in Spain, and seen more cities in Europe than I have in the United States. You can spend a lifetime searching for a place to fit in, and I’m relieved to have found my place so soon.

This summer I’m living with the same family I lived with last year. My mama Ana and I immediately picked up where we left off last year. It hardly felt like a year had passed. The only advantage to so much time passing between visits is that now I speak more Spanish and understand WAY more of what she says to me. Coming back is like a personal test that I wanted to take. Did I improve my Spanish over the year? Do I feel like I’m really capable of making a life for myself abroad? Luckily the answers have all been yes.

Some people wondered why I would take the same exact trip two years in a row. They were perplexed by the notion, and didn’t understand why I wouldn’t want to explore other places besides Spain. For me the answer is clear. I wanted to come home.