What is your advice for someone considering your program?
This is a picture of me (left) and fellow UW-Undergraduate, Greta Scheidt, on a hike at Xátiva Castle. Finding places like this where we could enjoy ourselves while also learning about the history of the area was so much fun.
My advice to future students on this program is to talk to as many of your Spanish classmates as possible from the beginning – not only can you form great friendships, but they can teach you a lot about the area as well. I also made it a goal of mine to schedule at least one thing each weekend that I had not tried previously. It didn’t have to be anything crazy, maybe just finding a new hike in the area or participating in a traditional Spanish custom that I had not tried before, but it was something that helped me feel like I was taking advantage of being in Valencia even when I was busy with school commitments.
I am now more confident in my Spanish-speaking skills than I have ever been. As someone who aspires to work in the medical field, the ability to speak Spanish in a professional setting will allow me to provide care to a wider population. My time in Valencia has given me a new cultural perspective through my daily experiences, as well as the conversations I have been able to have with those around me. The opportunity to strengthen my Spanish abilities and appreciation for Hispanic cultures while simultaneously making progress on my Biomedical Engineering degree is what initially attracted me to the program at the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, and my time this semester has been fruitful in each of these areas.
What is the moment you are most proud of?
The moment I am most proud of from my time in Valencia is more of a continuous progression rather than a specific moment in time. In general, it relates to finding success in a system which functions in a completely different way than what I am used to, in a language which I am still working to master. To give an idea of the progress I have made with the language, when I first arrived, checking out at the grocery store was uncomfortable, and I had to prep myself for the conversation before it occurred. Towards the end of my experience, people would stop me on the street to ask me for directions, and not only was I able to communicate effectively, but these conversations flowed naturally without the need for premeditation. The progression of my presentations throughout the semester follows a similar pattern. Frankly, I can’t remember much from my first presentation I gave this semester because I was so nervous for it. I spent hours preparing for a group presentation during which I was only going to be speaking for two minutes, something that I would hardly think twice about in English. By the end of my semester, however, I have given around 10 presentations total to different classes, and my comfort speaking in front of groups in Spanish has improved immensely. The realization that I was proud of my performance in one of these presentations for the first time was a moment of great personal growth for me, and evidence that I had at least partially achieved my goal of increasing my fluency while in Spain.
This picture is from March, when the celebration of “Las Fallas” overtook Valencia. The history of it all and everything that took place is too much to include in a photo caption, but it is worth looking up! I am so grateful to have been able to experience this Valencian tradition and to have learned as much as I did through saying yes to as many opportunities as I could while this celebration was taking place.
The work that I have done this semester in Valencia has further strengthened my drive to master the Spanish language and has shown me that I am capable of completing my work in Biomedical Engineering in Spanish. Professionally, being able to understand new cultures and identities that influence people will allow me to provide more equitable care once I enter the medical field, as I prioritize the interests and motivations of my patients over impersonal efficiency in medicine when applicable.
How were your program academics similar or different from taking classes at UW-Madison?
In terms of course content, my program academics were very similar to the classes that I would have been taking at UW-Madison. The structure of the courses, however, was significantly different from what I had grown accustomed to in Madison. Each class met twice a week, with each lecture lasting two hours. My classes had very few, if any, assignments due throughout the semester, which made it very easy to attend lecture every week and not do much work outside of class. Of course, this is not the most useful strategy to take when it comes to finding success during exam season, when learning entire courses in a week or two time span is not realistic. In this way, studying in Valencia took a lot more personal-motivation than I would argue is required of me in Madison. Of course, success in Madison also requires personal commitment, but there are often checkpoints throughout the semester to complete which assist in learning the course content.
