Featured Person: Patrick T.

Name: Patrick

Age During Exchange: 21

Disability: Attention Deficit Disorder

Hometown: Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States

Host Country: Barcelona, Spain

Program Length: 4 months

Exchange Type: Study abroad

About Me: I'm a business student majoring in Supply Chain Management with a minor in Spanish. I'm the recruitment chair for my fraternity at Indiana University and enjoy meeting meeting new people and learning new things. I put a lot of effort into my school work, but also set aside time for the things and the activities that make me happy and deviate my mind from the stress that comes with school work. I'm especially interested in football, basketball, traveling and boating.

I had never traveled internationally prior to my exchange experience in Spain. I became interested in international exchange after hearing about my brother's study abroad experience in Florence, Italy. He told me about how it made him a more independent, culturally aware, tolerant and sensitive person and how that has helped him in his everyday life and professional life today. He also told me about how he had the opportunity to immerse himself in the Italian culture and how much he enjoyed a different perspective on life. What was most intriguing about his experience was his opportunity to travel to several different countries in Europe on the weekends. He said that his home and weekly life were centered around the Italian culture, but that his weekend vacations and travel time were focused around various cultures from all around the world. After talking to him, seeing pictures and listening to all of the things that he learned and how it made him a better person, I knew that international exchange was for me.

Describe your international exchange program.

The business school at Indiana University facilitates various exchange organizations. I chose CIEE Business & Culture because it had the most competitive, intense Spanish program of the available options.

After they reviewed my credentials, I then applied to the CIEE Business & Culture program. There was a good deal of information that I had to provide in the application process and there were tasks that took up to eight weeks to complete, such as having passport pictures taken, getting a student visa, etc. Once I was accepted into the program, I learned that I would not know which classes I would be in or where I was going to live until I got there. This was a major downside for me because I was already feeling the anticipation and anxiety of being in another country. Now I'd have to worry about where I was going to live and whether the majority of my classes were going to be in Spanish or not. Having this many question marks so late in the game was very overwhelming, but everything ended up working out just fine.

What were your concerns as you prepared to travel?

Some of the concerns I had as I was preparing to travel abroad ranged from the actual city of Barcelona and the overwhelming size of it, the language barrier, difficulty of my classes, schedule of my classes, housing arrangements and also how I was going to meet people.

My primary resource in addressing most of these questions was my program coordinators and advisers. They couldn't tell me about my housing or my class schedule, but after I reached out to them, they were very helpful in providing information about the city of Barcelona, Spain culture and society of Spain, and how to deal with the culture shock that we were going to experience.

Another resource that was very valuable for me and which alleviated a lot of stress and anxiety were past students' feedback and insight on the program, the difficulty of classes, how to balance school work with weekend travel, etc. I sent out a mass email to about ten alumni who had participated in the same program and I received seven or eight responses, all of which were very helpful. The information they provided helped me relax and put a lot of rumors to rest.

Finally, I found some basic information on the culture and society of Spain through internet searches.

What was your experience living in the host country?

Living in Barcelona was incredible. The initial housing arrangement didn't end up working out for me, but my program made sure that I was happy and did whatever they could to make this happen. I lived in a residence hall with the majority of the students in my program as well as students from different countries who were in different programs. Each person lived in a single room that was equipped with a TV, a bathroom and shower, closet space and ethernet internet connection. On each floor, there were also wheelchair-accessible rooms that were twice the size.

I was very impressed with the public transportation in Barcelona. The layout of the underground metro was very simple, very clean and extremely convenient. At each metro stop, there was an option of taking an escalator, elevator or stairs. The public bus system was also convenient once I figured out all of the different routes and what buses go to what destinations. They had designated areas on all of the buses and ramps for wheelchair access.

What was one of your favorite memories?

My favorite memory was going to a Barcelona soccer game on my birthday. It has been said that this Barcelona team is the best to ever play the game of soccer, which is a big focus in Europe. The fact that it was a champions league game and Barcelona had to win in order to move on also made it exciting to be at the game.

Did you use assistive devices, adaptive equipment or disability-related accommodations during your exchange program?

I had testing accommodations while taking classes at a local University and had to provide documentation to the Indiana University Disability Student Services before receiving them. The overseas study abroad program at my University took care of all of the details with the program that I went through. These accommodations were very helpful in my new environment in that I wasn't squeezed for time like all of the other students, and I got to take all of my examinations in a separate room that was much more relaxed and calming.

Thinking back, what do you wish you had known before you began your journey?

I wish I had researched more about the city before I got there. When I was in Barcelona, I was very occupied with school work and actually going to class so it was difficult to research the city while attending class, studying and then traveling to other countries on the weekends. If I had known more about the city, then I could have spent less time researching and more time exploring.

I wish I had looked into creating some sort of traveling itinerary or developing an idea of the countries and cities that I definitely wanted to visit. I didn't have this planned out ahead of time, so I usually planned my weekends only a week in advance, which made it expensive to travel. If I had known where I wanted to travel ahead of time, then I could have planned out each weekend and booked everything several weeks in advance, which would have saved money. Other than learning the basic things about the society and culture, there isn't much else you can know, understand or really grasp without living in the culture and experiencing everything first hand.

What were the benefits of the experience, and how has your international experience informed your future plans?

The benefits of my experience were invaluable. I have become a much more independent person who is culturally accepting, aware, tolerant and sensitive. I have learned to accept perspectives other than my own. I greatly improved on my reading and writing Spanish skills and developed some level of fluency due to speaking the language regularly in day-to-day interactions. Even though I plan to travel abroad again, it will never be the same as it was in Barcelona, with hundreds of other study abroad students from other universities, my best friends from my university, and my girlfriend there with me. That is why I would encourage every person who is considering going abroad to do it, have fun with it, experience every moment of it and appreciate the opportunity. Studying abroad in Barcelona was the greatest decision and experience that I have had in my life thus far.

Do you have an exchange or disability-related question for Patrick? Email clearinghouse@miusa.org to contact him.

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