How Barcelona Has Changed Me
By: Ellen Kay
As I am walking through the streets on one of my last few
days here in Barcelona, I can’t help but think about how much this trip has
done for me. To give a small amount of background to this growth process, I
have came a long way from where I was last summer. I was in a stage of
depression, which I can say without shame anymore because of how much I have
grown from that process. Fast forward a little bit from last summer and I took
on a lot of independent roles during the school year, in friendships, school,
work, and so on. I took a lot of steps to ensure that my happiness was coming
from myself and not depending on anything other than that. Because of my
newfound love for straying away, living for myself, and doing what makes me
happy not others, I made the decision to study abroad. I haven’t traveled much
at all so the idea of it was kind of nerve racking but I will say that I have
great adaptability skills so the idea of a whole new place to me was something
I knew I could get used to easily, I wouldn’t exactly consider myself to be
high maintenance. I also knew that every moment of this trip was going to be a
learning process. One of my favorite initial struggles (or blessings in
disguise) was the fact that my phone really didn’t work without wifi, and wifi
was very sparse. I love my friends and family from home and school don’t get me
wrong, but it was so amazing to get to know the people I was with just because
we were forced to put our phones away and talk to each other. I’m not even a
person that I would consider to be too attached to a phone but it sped up the
process of getting to know the people in my group and somewhat forced me to
distance myself from getting constant updates of what my friends are always
doing. I feel like if its something that is important enough for me to know
about, they can tell me and I shouldn’t have to stare at my phone to know their
every move. It has allowed me to live more in the moment rather than post the
moment, which I love. Plus, who wouldn’t want to live in the moment in
Barcelona?? It’s amazing.
This trip seemed to not only boost my independent happiness,
but also it solidified it. It’s not a daily thought you have when you sit in a
class room in Indiana and think about the many different kinds of people,
beliefs, and cultures all over the world. There is happiness for everyone and
the happiness you have is the one you create. Barcelona is such a live in the
moment, live for now, and do what makes you happy kind of culture that I know I
will take home with me at least to some extent. I think that being in my early
20’s it is important that I experience more than worry. This program has
allowed me to put my life into perspective a little bit differently. I do worry
about things like my future life and career, but being opened to an entire new
world has allowed me to realize if something doesn’t work out I have so many
options and that I would rather judge my successes in life on my happiness
rather than my current professional/financial status or situation. I'm not constantly worried about what will happen but rather what is happening.
Specifically in Barcelona, my religious beliefs have grown
as well. I am Catholic, which is a part of Christianity and a lot of
Christians seem to consider it to be too “rule oriented”. Catholicism is very well
represented in Barcelona and I feel like seeing a lot of historical
appreciation is nice, reassuring, and refreshing. I can be a little bit more
proud to call myself a catholic and I will be. Catholicism is one of the many
heavily debated religions in politics in America despite our “freedom of
religion”. I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to see my faith
celebrated and not hated.
In Europe, people tend to express emotions so openly. This
is something that I can appreciate. In America we are so worried about
offending people that we don’t just get to the point of what we like/don’t
like, want/don’t want. This drives me nuts, especially in today’s society in
America. I am happy to have seen people arguing in the streets or to have seen
people loving one another openly. I’m really tired of the way people will beat
around the bush because good communication is the best way to accomplish
anything. I got to experience struggles with my homestay, locals, roommate, and
classmates as far as communication went during this program. I think as far as
my future career in communication goes, I will be able to realize when saving
face just isn’t important anymore and when expressing how something actually is
or how I actually feel will just be more beneficial to me in the long run, while being aware of someone's feelings and boundaries, I may just be able to get more out of life and relationships from it.
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