Hi! My name is Carolina Alvarez, and I’m a sophomore majoring in psychology with a business minor. Last semester, I applied for an exchange program at the University of Sydney in Australia on a whim. Initially, I went through the lengthy application process on the off-chance I would be accepted.… read more
Psychology
Overcoming Doubt and Embracing Adventure: My First Two Weeks in Spain
It was hard for me to get excited about my upcoming semester abroad during the weeks leading up to my departure. I had never been to Europe, so I had no idea what to expect. I was afraid of putting Spain on a pedestal, which could lead to disappointment. Friends… read more
Learning to Find Comfort in the Cold
I’ve only been in London for a month, but every Londoner I’ve met seems equally exasperated by the near-constant cloud cover. I’ve made small talk with my professors and the man selling fresh scones, giggling as they lament the shifting seasons. Winter is coming to London, and I couldn’t be… read more
Growth and Exploration in Seoul
I have been in Seoul for less than two months, and it has already been a whirlwind experience. I started my classes and have almost fully adjusted to the lifestyle here. Each day, I get to experience something new. Although I have experienced some homesickness, the joy of studying abroad… read more
How Interning Abroad in Spain Changed My Life
If someone had told me, a Mexican immigrant, that I was going to intern abroad in Barcelona, Spain through Absolute Internship last summer, I never would have believed them. Fast forward a year and I’m now interning in Spain for the second time as the Program Coordinator in Madrid for… read more
“Niceties” in France
The independence associated with “university life” is commonly acknowledged as a period of self-discovery. It’s a time in one’s life when you enter the real world, free from the confines of your childhood. In this new, unfamiliar environment, you’re driven to develop interpersonally as you’ve never done before, amid a… read more
Wishing for a Fig in Winter
Still life has been my favorite genre of art since childhood. I’d like to think it was the first time I deeply resonated with the power of metaphor in art. However, at the time, I hadn’t entirely pieced together why I was so fascinated by an unassuming, gilded-framed depiction of… read more
Paradoxes Can Coexist
“I am washing my face before bed while a country is on fire. It feels dumb to wash my face and dumb not to. It has never been this way and it has always been this way. Someone has always clinked a cocktail glass in one hemisphere as someone loses… read more
Take A Chance
After applying to The University of Texas at Austin in Fall 2019, I received a rejection letter and was instantly devastated. However, I applied to UT knowing about the possibility to appeal admissions decisions. I appealed and waited until April 1, 2020, when I finally received my “Gone to Texas”… read more
No Pasa Nada (Don’t Worry About It)
Before I had even landed in Madrid, I’d unconsciously set expectations for myself and my time abroad: My Spanish would progress like never before, I’d meet many new people, travel every weekend, make unforgettable memories, and transform into this worldly person. In some sense, most of that happened—just not in… read more