{"id":2436,"date":"2026-01-13T15:08:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T15:08:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.atu.edu\/studyabroad\/?p=2436"},"modified":"2026-01-13T15:08:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T15:08:13","slug":"mackenzie-blog-1-pre-departure-thoughts-spain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.atu.edu\/studyabroad\/2026\/01\/13\/mackenzie-blog-1-pre-departure-thoughts-spain\/","title":{"rendered":"Mackenzie Blog #1 – Pre-Departure Thoughts- Spain"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hello! My name is Mackenzie Epperson, and I am a senior majoring in biomedical biology. Some of my hobbies include running, playing pickleball, and spending time with my family and friends.

For the spring 2026 semester, I have chosen to study abroad in Le\u00f3n, Spain. When I first had interest in studying abroad, I had a meeting with Mrs. Haulmark, and we discussed the location options for studying abroad. While they all seemed interesting, I decided the program in Spain would be the best fit for me. The program lasts about 3 months and will allow me to be fully immersed in the culture while making it back in time for graduation.

I have a mixture of nerves and excitement about leaving home and campus. I have never been out of the country, so I am very excited for the opportunity to explore Europe and experience other cultures. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity that I am very grateful for. At the same time, I am a little nervous to travel abroad since it is something I have not done before. The thing that I will miss the most while I am away is my family.

As I go into this journey, I will bring an attitude and mindset of respect. I understand that I will encounter people with different cultural backgrounds, beliefs, and perspectives than my own. If I keep respect as a core value, it will help me listen and learn when I am challenged by different viewpoints than what I am used to.

I expect the academic program in Spain to be different than what I am accustomed to, including more independent learning and responsibilities as students. Since I have never taken a foreign language class, I expect the work to be challenging but I also hope to gain a great understanding of the Spanish language. I am excited to see what the learning environment is like and to challenge myself in the classroom.

I expect Spain to be very rich in history and culture, with historic buildings such as cathedrals. I believe that people there have a slower pace of life and unique traditions. I plan to engage with the host culture by exploring the city, participating in community activities, and interacting with locals in Le\u00f3n.

I am most looking forward to traveling around Spain and other countries in Europe. Experiencing new cultures and seeing unique places will help me gain a broader perspective of the world. I am also excited to immerse myself in the Spanish culture to improve my language skills and connect with people of different backgrounds.

I am most nervous about the language barrier since I do not speak any Spanish yet and will begin to learn it when I attend classes in Spain. Despite this, I am determined that the full immersion in the culture will allow me to pick it up quickly. Overall, I am very excited for this experience and the memories I will make along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hello! My name is Mackenzie Epperson, and I am a senior majoring in biomedical biology. Some of my hobbies include running, playing pickleball, and spending time with my family and friends. For the spring 2026 semester, I have chosen to study abroad in Le\u00f3n, Spain. When I first had interest in studying abroad, I had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":2442,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,55,59],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-atuglobal","category-spain","category-study-abroad","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.atu.edu\/studyabroad\/files\/2026\/01\/Mackenzieblog1.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.atu.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.atu.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.atu.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.atu.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.atu.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2436"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.atu.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2436\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2444,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.atu.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2436\/revisions\/2444"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.atu.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.atu.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.atu.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.atu.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}