Finding Balance while Abroad - Reflections Upon Return (Granada, Summer 2022)

My first day in Granada, after arriving at the residencia, all of the students who had already arrived went out to grab some lunch with our professor. I remember telling one of my new classmates, "It hasn't sunk in yet that we're here for school... It just feels like vacation!"

This is, of course, one of the best parts of study abroad - getting to learn somewhere new provides so much excitement and motivation. But it is also one of the challenges. With so many new things to see and experience, how can you justify sitting at your desk doing homework, even if just for an hour or two?

As a Warren student, the concept of balance is always at the front of my mind. Our motto, "Toward a Life in Balance", encourages me and reminds me every day that finding balance is how we truly live happy and fulfilling lives.

I have to admit, before I left I was concerned about how I would achieve this once abroad. I wanted to make the most of my time in Spain, but also needed to do well in my classes, and didn't want to lose progress on my personal goals, such as improving my mental health. 

Now that I have returned, had some time to reflect, and have adjusted into my new, study-abroad-informed lifestyle, I wanted to share some of the things I did both before and during my study abroad experience that not only allowed me to achieve balance while abroad, but have also changed the way I structure my life going into the 2022-2023 school year.

Before:

1. Review your habits and determine which ones you plan to prioritize while abroad.

Before leaving, take an inventory of things you do consistently as part of your normal routine. For me, this included things like journaling every morning and every night, meditating once a day, getting at least 30 minutes of physical activity, and reading at least one chapter of a "for fun" book every day.

For each habit, consider how much time they take out of your daily life, how much planning they would require abroad, and how important they are to your mental or physical wellbeing. Based on this information, you can decide which ones are super important for you to prioritize, and which are okay to maybe fall to the back-burner for a little bit. 

This will look different for everyone, but for me I decided that my daily journaling and my reading were the two habits I wanted to focus on most while abroad - I felt that not only did they take minimal time out of my day and could be done while out and about exploring, but they were also the most salient to my mental health. Plus, I am a sucker for bookstores and libraries, and loved the idea of purchasing some new books to read while abroad (which I did... I think I brought home a total of 25 books, which was not great for my luggage). Plus, I still found opportunities to complete my other habits from time to time, for example this hike in Monachil (a small mountain town just outside of Granada).

2. Have a conversation with your professor about their academic expectations of students.

One of the best things about the Global Seminars program is that you have access to your professor and the other students in your program a good amount of time before embarking. Use this access to communicate. I was lucky enough that my professor held an in-person meeting with us all before leaving, where we had the opportunity to discuss his academic expectations for us, and how he recommended we balance exploring and getting to know Granada while also being successful in our courses.

I was extremely blessed that it was just as important to my professor that we found balance in our time abroad as it was to me. While he of course emphasized the importance of staying on top of our assignments, he also explained how he altered the course a little bit from its non-study abroad equivalent to create more experiential learning, to include less essays and more reflections, and to give us more free time during the best parts of the day to explore. Having this conversation with your professor ahead of time will give you a much better idea of what you can expect your academic responsibilities to look like while abroad.

3. Get ahead on your assignments as much as possible before leaving.

One of the best things I did for myself in my preparation to go abroad was get a head start on assignments before leaving. I took literature courses, which meant that I had lots of reading to do, and I started working on these a few days after I finished my last final for Spring. I made sure to carve out at least 30 minutes to an hour almost every day before leaving to spend some time working on readings.  This made a HUGE difference, as working ahead before leaving allowed me to spend less time reading while abroad, and gave me a small cushion of time once I arrived.

Of course, you want to make sure you're not stressing yourself out with assignments before leaving. Definitely make sure you still do other things, like relaxing and recharging, spending time with friends and family, and packing. Additionally, you may not be able to start everything in advance, as certain assignments or even courses aren't always conducive to working ahead. But, do your best to get a head start, it will make your experience much less stressful! And don't forget about your travel time! If you're already going to be stuck on a plane for 8 hours with nothing to do, might as well at least spend a few hours working on some school work.

During:

1. Make going out to study an event!

This is something I do in the United States as well, but I made studying much more enjoyable while abroad by making it an event! Grab some classmates and go explore local coffee shops, libraries, or workspaces to get some homework done while enjoying local coffees, teas, and snacks. We frequently visited the Biblioteca Pública de Granada, which provided a lovely study ambience, and also demonstrated how public libraries were utilized a lot more in Spain than here in the United States.

I wish that I would have started doing this earlier in my study abroad experience, especially as one of my classmates found the most amazing study spot in our last few days as we were working on our final essays. It was called La Qarmita, and it was the most perfect little bookstore/workspace/café I had ever been to. Filled with shelves of books and featuring Argentinian pastries and drinks, it was the most cozy little place and I was so disappointed that we didn't find it earlier.

2. Do a little bit of work every single day.

It can get very tempting while abroad to treat school as a secondary priority. Especially after coming into my courses pretty ahead on readings, I definitely felt like I didn't need to do much work in my first few weeks. However, Global Seminars are only five weeks long, and it goes by much quicker than you expect it to. Before I knew it, my homework had caught up to me, and I found myself wishing I had spent a little more time in my first few weeks maintaining my advance. 

By my third week, I got into a good flow of spending a little bit of time progressing on my work every single day, even if there wasn't necessarily anything "due" for a while. By taking this little bit of time, I made it much less stressful in the long run, and avoided having to say no to going out in the evenings because I had 40 pages of untouched reading due the next morning.

3. Lean into your destination's culture.

One unexpected realization I had while abroad was how much Spanish culture really allowed for things like relaxation and balance. Compared to life here in the United States, everything in Spain is much slower, and everything from the hours of the work-day to the way restaurants are set up lends more towards connection, conversation, and simplicity. This was really different from my typical American lifestyle, which places a much greater emphasis on profit, productivity, and maximization.

One aspect of Spanish culture that really helped me to find balance was siesta. I learned that while the word siesta literally translates to 'nap', it doesn't necessarily mean that Spaniards nap every day. Especially in the summer, where the afternoons can get up to 42℃, siesta refers to the period of time usually for about 2-3 hours any time between 1 and 6pm that many businesses, offices, and even stores and restaurants close to give employees time for lunch (which is the longest and largest meal of the day), to be able to get out of the heat, and to prepare for the evening. 

Our school building closed from 2-5:30 pm, and given the extreme heat and lack of open places to explore, we often hung out in the residencia during this time. Occasionally we would work together on homework, but for me I usually spent this time resting in bed, watching some TV, doing my "for fun" reading, or catching up with friends and family back home, before heading back out for class and more adventures usually around 6pm. This time ended up being crucial for my positive experience. I would definitely encourage someone who is about to study abroad to really explore and engage with the culture of their country, and find ways to utilize it to help them find balance in their experience.

Conclusions

In the end, finding balance while studying abroad was not as daunting of a task as I thought it might be. Especially with many of the supports provided by my professor, my classmates, and staff both onsite and back at UCSD, I found that I was easily successful in creating a lifestyle for myself in Spain that allowed me to experience everything I wanted while also maintaining good grades and positive mental health. Even as I look ahead to the upcoming school year, there are many aspects of my Spanish lifestyle that I hope to incorporate into my routine. 

Unfortunately, I can't have siesta and refuse to do anything between the hours of 2:30 and 6pm, but I can make an effort to give myself an hour or two each day to rest and take care of myself. It also made me realize how much of San Diego I still had yet to explore - since arriving back home I've already tried 3 new coffee shops and been to a new public library to get work done!

Finding balance while abroad will look different for everyone, but it is absolutely crucial for a positive all-around experience. If you are interested in learning more about what my days looked like while abroad and more ways I found balance, feel free to check out my virtual scrapbook/journal I created of my time in Spain. I hope this blog post was helpful, informative, and interesting, and please feel free to reach out if you have any questions!