Week 1 in Barcelona is officially under our belts! For the past seven days, I have been continually amazed at the beauty and vibrancy of the city. It is lively, warm, cultured, and fun! Our group is inviting: thirty Mays students all here to learn more about international business and the city, all led by the incredible Dr. Panina- a pro at this trip. Getting to know the other members of the group while exploring Barcelona together has been such a sweet treat already and we are all learning and growing together. A major draw-in to participate in this faculty-led program was certainly the expertise of Dr. Panina but also the possibility of traveling and learning alongside fellow Aggies: the common thread of Mays Business School, but also coming from different backgrounds and bringing different perspectives along. Some initial thoughts and first impressions of the trip thus far: the metro is much easier than anticipated, tapas are a must, my daily step count has doubled if not tripled already, and the best view of the sunset (which is abnormally late here) is from Montjuic. Our apartment is a 2-minute walk to La Sagrada Familia and the park there is a great place for phone calls, reflecting, and gelato. Our day trip to Montserrat was breathtaking?there were many instances where I paused mid-sentence because I was taken aback by the beauty and history that was in front of me. To see God?s glory and handiwork on full display in a place so far from home was both humbling and thrilling. In these next few weeks, I hope to embrace a broader perspective and worldview. To me, this means realizing there is more than one right way to go about something and taking a minute to consider someone else?s situation and ideals. I hope to challenge myself to soak in as much as I can while here, and to bring it all back with me upon return to the US.
