This experience in Barcelona has been a life-changing four weeks. Being in a new continent with my friends and getting to explore both the business and personal side of life in Barcelona, I have left this experience a new person. I have picked up Spanish, learned to cook the Catalan cuisine, mastered the metro system, and made some of my lifelong best friends. After traveling with Mays, I have now begun to seriously consider working in Europe after graduation for a year or two. The opportunities to combine my foreign language education and passion for business culminated in a very enjoyable classroom experience learning both about the history of the EU and conducting international business. Planning out our schedule for travel and sightseeing taught me valuable skills in both time management, map reading, and working with a group of people. My favorite business visit was to the Estrella Galicia factory in A Coru?a. There, we went on an interactive guided tour about both the history of beer and the history of the Galicia brewery. Seeing an actual factory in action deepened my interest in supply chain and I was able to apply my Management Information Systems knowledge in learning about how technology sped up processes. I also found it incredibly interesting to learn the science behind how beer is made – my high school chemistry knowledge vaguely returned to mind! A Coru?a was my favorite city I have visited. We would go to the beach every night and the weather – 60 to 70 degrees – was perfect. I swam in the water on our last night and even though it was cold, it felt amazing! The history, the lack of crowds, the streets and the amazing restaurants made our trip to the Galicia region absolutely incredible. I am so excited to return to Spain and am in awe of how amazing the study abroad experience was!
