Exploring Spanish Art, Culture

Sabrina Porter has been studying Spanish since sixth grade. "Since then, it is as if Spain has been calling my name," said Porter. "I would read textbooks and see pictures all about Spain, and since that first year, I have always wanted to go." This past summer, Porter got to make that dream come true. She got to see the flamenco dancing, the tapas, the Alhambra, the Mezquite, the palaces, and the football obsession that she had been longing to see in person.

Porter, a junior majoring in civil engineering and engineering and public policy, said she knew her college experience wouldn't be complete without studying abroad. "I also knew that there would be no other opportunity in my life to go and study for two months in a foreign country without worrying about a job or real-world commitments," she said. "I hoped to gain a sense of independence, confidence, and at the same time, a real understanding of and immersing into Spanish culture and its people."

Mission accomplished. Porter says she is more confident from the experience. "I found myself interacting with the Spanish people without fear or embarrassment. I overcame the language boundary and found myself excited when saying phrases I has picked up from the natives around me."

Porter says she also gained a new sense of independence. "Not only was I in a foreign country, but I was in an external program that had never had Carnegie Mellon students," she said. "I knew absolutely no one. Out of this unfamiliarity, however, I was able to form friendships and relationships that I got so much out of." Porter traveled to numerous cities and towns in Spain, as well as to Paris, where she saw the Tour de France. 

Porter learned of the program in an unusual way: "I found the program by overhearing someone else's phone conservation on the train by my house," she said. "At the time, I was looking for study abroad programs for Spain in the summer, and I heard this girl say that Binghamton University had a program. So that night, I went online and found it." 

The program was sponsored through Binghamton University and hosted by Foreign Study Programs (FORSPRO). Six weeks in total, the first two weeks of the program were spend in Malaga, at the southernmost tip of the peninsula across the Mediterranean from Africa. These two weeks included a 19th century Spanish poetry class. The remaining four weeks were spent in Madrid and included a class on Spanish art, a class on the history of Spanish civilization, and trips to Madrid's biggest museums.

Porter received funding for her trip from the Tartans Abroad Program, the CIT Dean's Office Travel Grant program, and the H&SS modern languages scholarship.

She says she loved her time abroad and has memories that will be with her forever. "My experience was one I wouldn't trade for the world."