#bates bonner

I’ve been in Salamanca for two months now, which at the same feels like an overestimate and an underestimate.  I’m getting to know the city really well — I know which coffee shops have the best espresso, most reliable wifi, and the widest range of vegetarian tapas.  I’ve also gotten more involved with clubs and activities.  Yesterday I played in an ultimate frisbee tournament with the team I play on, Las Urracas (which means “magpies” — I’m still not sure how this is threatening), and this morning I ran a 6k race through the city.  And I got a library card, which (for me anyways) is the real indicator of residence in a new place.  I’ve also been able to talk more with my classmates at the Universidad de Salamanca (USAL) and not let my apprehension about making grammatical errors force me to keep quiet.  

I’ve also noticed that there is a huge difference in the amount of focus and importance placed on academics in the US and in Spain.  Before I started taking classes at the USAL, I knew that it was very prestigious, and was frequently referred to as a European ivy school.  Because of this, I expected that the classes would be very rigorous academically; I was prepared to spend the majority of my free time reading and engaging with class material, and having in-depth academic discussions during class time.  Now that I’ve had USAL classes for a month and a half, I’ve learned that this is not the case.  Several times I’ve shown up to a class that should have 40+ students, only to find less than 10 people who actually came to class.  Also, during the class discussions, there’s not a lot of participation.  In regards to class work, yes there’s reading, but I haven’t had to write an essay for an USAL class, and our final grades are based almost exclusively on the final exam.  In my anthropology class there was a midterm, which I studied very thoroughly for, but the exam consisted of just 30 multiple choice questions.  Despite not knowing what every word meant (just due to my Spanish vocabulary), I was one of the first students to finish.  This was not only much different from what I was expecting coming to Spain, but also much different from the college expectations and academic rigor at Bates.  

At first I was kind of bummed about the academic situation.  Obviously I’m not devastated that my essays are limited to those that I have to write for IES classes, but I kept thinking that I came here to study, to better my Spanish — how could I do that if my classes weren’t willing to push me?  And why weren’t the Spanish students taking their academics seriously? I wouldn’t say that this experience triggered any prejudices against Spaniards or Spanish culture, but I was surprised by the lack of academic focus at a supposedly-ivy level university.  

After a few weeks in the classes, I took a step back and thought about why the students here are (at least outwardly) less concerned with academics than students in the US.  This may be in part because European education is much less expensive than American education.  Students do not need to spend thousands and thousands of dollars to attend a prestigious university for the hope of maybe securing a job with halfway decent pay after working for four years as an unpaid intern.  I’ve been told that if someone fails a class, they can just retake it.  If someone needs longer than four years to complete their studies, it’s not a big deal — they won’t need to pay an extra $15,000 - $70,000 for a fifth year of college.  

Also, Spanish culture doesn’t seem to mandate that school or work is the absolute most important thing in a person’s life, which I think is really healthy.  People have outside lives that matter a lot more to them than how well they do in school; life experiences, I’ve learned are considered much more important than grades and studying.  This outlook made me take a step back and look at the education system and collegiate experiences in the US.  I think about all of the nights that I’ve gone without sleep, activities I’ve missed, or weeks I’ve been so exhausted and stressed all for the sake of doing well in my classes — and I know I’m not alone in this pursuit.  And for what? The difference between an A and an A- or B+ on an essay or an exam will not determine whether or not I’ll be successful in life.  And then what determines success? We’ve been so acculturated as Americans to believe that living really fast and trying to get as far as we can in the rat race to “success” that we’ve forgotten that there might be other more important things in life.  And I know that sounds so cheesy and Hallmarky, and I am not a sentimental person.  Regardless of how far we make it, we’re not satisfied — the finish line just keeps getting further and further away until we finally die, wishing we had spent more time with our families or in the woods.  Obviously this is not to say that we should all go live off the grid, a la Captain Fantastic, but we should maybe reevaluate what it means to be successful. 

At first it was really hard to get away from the feeling that I wasn’t being productive enough, but after taking a hard look at my expectations, I’ve realized that I’m learning so much more here in terms of life experiences than I ever would in an academic setting.  I can talk conversationally in Spanish (more or less) without sounding super formal, and I have learned so much — both academically and not.  Also, without the excessive focus on academic perfection, I’ve been able to push myself enough that I make mistakes.  Being away from Bates made me realize that I’ve pretty much stuck within my comfort zone as to avoid bad grades and making mistakes.  Here, I know that I will make mistakes with my Spanish, and for some reason that feels very liberating.  I’m in a learning environment, not one that I need to be perfect all the time.  Without the expectation of perfection, I can try different things that might not always work. 

The other day I was talking with my host mom, and she was surprised at IES for all of the essays that they assigned us.  “You aren’t in Spain to study all the time,” she told me.  And she’s right — not just about my time in Spain, but also about my time at Bates.  For the first time in my life, I’m going to play hooky — I’m going to cut class so I can go to Belgium.  And I’m so excited.

Jaelene Perez ‘20

London, England

Month 1

Bates Winter Semester Abroad

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Hey everyone! It’s the end of Month 1! So far, it really seems like a calmer cleaner NYC. There’s the hustle vibe from NYC but the streets are much cleaner. People mind their business as they usually do in larger cities. I’ve loved London for years ever since I first watched Harry Potter so I love everything about this city. It makes me wonder if I should’ve gone to school in a city environment and not basically a rural one. I’m still uncomfortable with the fact that trains here are not 24/7 and groceries are expensive, so home-cooked meals are really putting a dent in my wallet. I’m hoping to find like an African or Caribbean Market cause it’ll probably be cheaper and I will most likely find the same ingredients that I use at home here. The only way to find them is for me to search and travel. Before I finish up, I’ll describe the photos I posted!

Photo 1-3: I ended up in Carnaby with a couple of friends when we were exploring London. It was super cute and reminded me of NYC

Photo 4: I was taking the Overground Tube into Romford in order to buy some natural hair product 

Photo 5: I visited the Camden Market with friends and it was really fun. It is a place where I will visit more.