Study abroad

Hopefully, your application season is winding down (fingers crossed!), For us, application season is just starting. Luckily, it’s mostly for fun things—summer internships, fellowship opportunities, and study abroad.

Studying abroad—or traveling abroad in general—is an experience most Yalies take advantage of at some point during their four years here. A number of students choose to take a semester or a year abroad (for example, my roommate is going to Italy next fall), while the majority of Yalies travel internationally during the summer. The decision to study abroad for a semester, year, or summer solely depends on the student; I knew from the moment I arrived on campus that I wouldn’t want to spend a single moment during the year away from my New Haven home!

Yale really provides a wide range of important resources that students need to have a successful experience abroad. Last spring, I realized I wanted to spend my summer in Spain to improve my conversational Spanish. My experience started with a trip to the Center for International and Professional Experience (CIPE), where I was able to meet with an advisor to look into a series of programs that fit my interests.  

Yale offers several of its own study abroad programs—for students interested in mastering the Spanish language, there’s one in Bilbao, Spain and one in Quito, Ecuador. There are also tons in other countries around the world—from Sweden to India—and you can check out the variety of opportunities here! I elected to go with a non-Yale program in León, Spain that was approved by Yale. Before I left, CIPE held several information sessions, which gave me the opportunity to meet the other Yalies on my trip and figure out other essentials like packing, bank accounts, and buying a cell phone.

I had an amazing time in Spain last summer.  I was able to really see the country in a new way—studying and being immersed in a language is completely different from traveling as a tourist. I can’t recommend the experience enough My favorite city on the trip was Madrid, where we spent time wandering through the Reina Sofia and the Prado museums, staring at Guernica and Las Meninas. For me, though, the best part of study abroad was the new friends I made—we still get together at Yale to have dinner and practice our Spanish!

Yalies at the Alcazar in Seville!