Universidad Antonio de Nebrija

Four weeks of classes have already gone by! Coming into this experience, I was not sure what to expect. I wondered how strict my professors would be, how much homework they would assign,  if I would feel intimidated by the Spanish skills of my classmates, and in general, how much stress going to school in a new country would cause me. Looking back on these past few weeks, I have noticed several distinctions and similarities. 

One of the most significant differences between school here and MLC is attendance. I have yet to skip any classes here, but my classmates are frequent skippers. Attendance holds a different weight here than in my classes at home. For example, Thursdays (my last day of school each week) have extremely low attendance. Many of my classmates skip courses on this day because they want to travel to other countries, which is totally understandable! We are allowed six skips per class, and only having each class three times a week, we could technically skip two full weeks of school without penalty. After six skips, our grade can be impacted significantly.

The rigorous schedule and hours of homework each night at MLC make school here feel relaxed and not like the most significant part of my life here. At MLC, my entire schedule revolved around how many hours of homework I had each night. I have never spent more than thirty minutes on a single assignment here. It has given me opportunities to explore Madrid (and many other places) and experience the culture. Mondays and Wednesdays are busy with classes from 8:30 am to 1:30 pm. Tuesdays and Thursdays just have one class right away at 8:30 am, giving me the rest of the day to explore Madrid and relax. I love this aspect of school because of the extra free time it adds to my schedule. 

Because the classes I am taking here directly apply to my program at MLC, I was concerned about the grading system because I need every credit I am taking here. I quickly learned that the grading system here would probably not be my biggest concern because it is only graded on three levels: participation, attendance, and exams. Many of my final exams are going to be group projects, which will be enjoyable. Professors make it very easy to participate in class, and as long as I show up to class most of the time, I should not be concerned about my grade at all. MLC’s grading system holds students to a very high standard in order to get an A, while here, participating in class and simply completing the homework gets students good grades (based on my experience thus far). 

The professors here are excellent! They are not strict or scary like I worried they might be, but they are so encouraging and actually hilarious. They are animated, excited, and and very passionate about teaching. Since all of my classes are in Spanish, I feel like I am learning so much from them. I am taking four different classes: a grammar class, a modern Spanish society class, an art class, and a literature class. All of them have been very enjoyable. Feeling as though I can understand the professors very well and participating in class has been encouraging for me as I continue to learn Spanish. I also have appreciated that the class sizes are very similar to MLC’s, if not smaller. I have, on average, twenty people in my classes, allowing for good discussions and participation. Overall, I pray that classes continue to go well and that I continue to learn Spanish more and more! I am excited to improve my speaking skills with native Spanish speakers not only inside the classroom but also outside of class.

I don’t have very many pictures related to school, so here are some that somewhat fit the theme 🙂

1. Journaling at a cafe after class one day!
2. Our video calls with fellow study abroad MLC students are something that I look forward to!
3. Classes early in the morning give us lots of time to try cafes to “work on homework.”