My Goals and Expectations for Studying Abroad in Madrid, Spain

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Hi everyone! My name is Alaina Wiedoff and I am in my junior year at Martin Luther College. It is unbelievable to think that this semester abroad, something I have been planning since the beginning of freshman year, is a couple days away. I am for sure feeling all of the feelings – disbelief, excitement, confusion, anxiousness, gratitude, and more. If I am being honest, I have sat down and attempted to write this blog four different times in the last week, but have gotten overwhelmed with the fact that this once-in-a-lifetime experience is just a few days before me and indeed is very real and not a dream. Here I am now though, after I could not fall asleep due to runaway thoughts of this trip. 

 

For this first blog, I get the opportunity to reflect on my goals and expectations for my semester abroad in Madrid. I have lots of small and large goals for myself during my time abroad. I LOVE setting goals for myself but have done an extremely poor job of consistently following through on these goals. That being said, one of my top goals is to work hard to follow through on my goals! 🙂 

 

Starting with an expectation: I expect that after this program wraps up, I will be more confident in my Spanish speaking abilities. If anyone knows me, you know I am very hard on myself about my abilities in Spanish and feel I should be further along than I am. A goal that goes hand-in-hand with this expectation, is spending time outside of class studying and practicing Spanish concepts that I am not as confident in. This may look like reviewing certain concepts and practicing them in my notebook and then using these concepts in real-life conversations. I do believe that I will feel more confident after spending four months studying and learning the language more! I do expect this program to challenge me and to encourage me to work hard! I believe that through this program I will have exposure to many different cultures and life styles which will broaden my perspective and Lord-willingly contribute to my personal and spiritual growth. 

 

I am a very structured person. I love planning out every key detail and having a schedule that I can follow at all times, especially when traveling. Schedules are not always a bad thing, but I have learned that when I focus too heavily on following the schedule or making sure plans go exactly as I expect them to, I find myself more stressed out with change and less content with the experiences before me. After learning more about European culture, one insight I have gained is that the way of life there is more slow going and less rigid. This way of life can be so beautiful. A goal that I will daily be working at is becoming more flexible and adaptable to change and spontaneity. Not only do I want to become more flexible in situations, but I want to find the joys and blessings that come with the unexpected paths I may take. I will, of course, maintain my aspirations and objectives for things I wish to see and achieve, but do so while adapting and embracing the unpredictable experiences that European life may present. 

 

Similarly, I want to learn more about myself and embrace the change and growth that may come with this semester. I tend to get super anxious about both big and small changes and worry about the outcome of those changes. Living in a different country and culture is going to bring about a lot of small and big changes. I not only want to become more flexible and adaptable to these changes, but embrace them and see the beauty that God is working through them. 

 

THIS is another big goal of mine; to trust in the Lord with all of my heart and trust that he is working out His plan in my life no matter what may change or not go the way I expect it to! 

 

Here is the list of some of my more general personal goals this semester, in no particular order!: 

 

  1. Write everyday in my gratitude journal! 
    • (Prayer in the morning and 3 things I am thankful for at the end of the day!) 
  2. Write in my Travel journal 4 times a week! 
  3. Read 3 books! 
  4. Read the book of Psalms in both English and Spanish! 
  5. Sit and try to paint at least 3 times! 
  6. Make new friends! 
  7. Travel to 5 new countries. 
  8. Take a solo trip! 
  9. Exercise 3 times a week! 
  10. Stay connected to my loved ones back home! 
  11. Improve my Spanish speaking and knowledge of the language! 
  12. Learn more of the history of Spain! 

 

Finally, the most important goal for me is to stay rooted in my faith. I would love to daily be in my Bible and spend time with my Father in prayer. I am blessed here at home, to have my church community as well as my MLC community. While I am abroad, I will not physically have this community with me, even though I know you are all rooting for me and praying for me. (Thank you, truly. It means the world!) I would love to find a community abroad that I can worship with and have conversations with about Jesus and His love and ministry. Lord-willingly, when and if I find this community, I would love to create close friendships and maintain these bonds while I am abroad and beyond. 

 

Lately, as I have been preparing to leave for this God-given, amazing opportunity, I have been meditating on these verses that have given me comfort: 

 

Deuteronomy 31:8: 

“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

 

And 

 

All of Psalm 23 – The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. 

 

I ask that you please keep my friends and I who are studying abroad in your prayers! Thank you for your support and prayers, it means so much. 

 

God works in beautiful ways and I am so incredibly excited to see His plan for this season of my life! 

 

Thanks for following along! 

Con Amor, (with love) 

 

Alaina Wiedoff