Khalita Hicks Shares Her Granada Experience

Without a doubt, my time in Granada was the most profound experience of my life. I was able to improve my Spanish a great deal and I met amazing people from all over the world. The best occurrence for me, however, was the personal growth I experienced along the way.
From the moment I stepped off the plane, I knew my life would be changed forever. I looked around the airport and thought, “Oh no! No one here looks like me!” I then realized that the whole point of the trip was to experience things that may put me out of my comfort zone and to be exposed to a culture much unlike my own.
On a personal level, my time abroad forced me to become more independent and assertive: something I’d struggled with my entire life. I became conscious of the fact that I had to trust my instincts if I wanted to get anything accomplished. I learned that I had to be proactive; I couldn’t just wait to receive solutions to all my problems or answers to all my questions.
In regards to culture, one of the major things that I learned while abroad is that, although thousands of miles separate the U.S. and Europe and (seemingly) many cultural differences exist, we are all the same! Once I was able to get past all the Spanish cultural dissimilarities such as eating dinner super late or not dirty dancing at the discotheques, I realized that everyone wants the same things out of life and that it is VERY important to be respectful of the opinions of others. I learned so much from people whose opinions about political issues, music, life, etc. differed from mine.
I am very grateful for the opportunity that I had to study abroad. I will never forget my experience in Spain and all the things that I learned about myself as well as the rest of the world.