Amanda Malvik: Blog Post #1

I have done so much research into cultivating the “perfect” list of what to pack for study abroad. I have spent countless hours scrolling through tik tok videos, youtube videos, and talking to my friends who have studied abroad. I am normally a very type B person, you can ask my friends and family. However, when it comes to packing I am extremely type A. I would love to be laid back and just say “I’ll buy it there if I forget.” Which is probably true, and you shouldn’t freak yourself out. However, I am not taking my own advice. I’d like to have all of my “must haves” before I even get to Spain to set me up for success. With that being said, I have made a list of everything that was very stressed over my diligent hours of precise research. Look at my cute Canva-created list!

Since this is my first blog, I kind of wanted to cover what made me decide to study abroad and who I am. If you told me at the beginning of this year that I’d be leaving to live in Spain for five months soon, I’d probably laugh in your face. I am currently a Sophomore, who transferred here in the Fall of 2024 due to some unforeseen problems at my previous university.

One thing about TCU that I started looking into was studying abroad. My past campus didn’t have such elaborate opportunities such as spending a full semester in Europe. I am a Spanish minor and I had an extra semester due to transferring. So I thought, “why not?” My life has already changed so much in the past year, let’s just keep making myself grow and stretch my comfort zone.

I am also a nursing major. With being a nursing major, I am on a very strict schedule of when and what I take each semester. Thus making it impossible to study abroad for a full semester when I am in nursing school. However, I felt so drawn to studying abroad that I decided to use my extra semester to go experience something so much different than I have before. I can take my remaining Nursing prerequisites in the summer. I am an example that if you are a nursing major, you can still study abroad for a full semester! When you’re fifty looking back at your college experience, will you really dwell on the extra six months at the end that you had to take so you could study abroad? Definitely not! Be a super Senior, it’s cool. I’ll be one!

I’m excited to open myself up to new cultures, people, and languages. We’re only this young once. Let’s take the biggest risks ever, because I have never heard an older adult tell me they regretted doing something. They always tell me they regretted not doing it. Let’s do this!