week 3

It's pretty unbelievable that we are heading into our last week of the program. It seems like we just got here and I could never experience all that Barcelona has to offer! I am so thankful for the experiences we have had so far and look forward to what we can cram in in the last 10,800 minutes. I plan to make them count!

Speaking of which, it has been interesting to work on balancing school work and adventure while studying abroad. Some people view study abroad as a vacation, with a little school mixed in just to cover the basics. I can agree to an extent, that study abroad has a "vacationy" feel, but I have made sacrifices while studying abroad, just as I would at home during a normal semester, to stay in and study. While we were on one of our excursions this weekend we were talking with a couple and the husband just kept commenting on the fact that all our parents had paid for us to be here, and that we should be thanking them, buying them gifts, etc. and shaking his head at us. We laughed at his jokes but it did bother me. Study abroad is such a priceless experience and a lot of students do pay their own way to come along. The balance of studying and "vacationing" can be difficult. To stay on task I used my regular planner every week to make time for homework and for our trips. We planned our homework and studying into each day so that we knew we had time for both. There were many times I had to say no to a night out or come home early to finish homework, and that's okay with me. I would do the same at home, and make grades a priority always.

As I said, study abroad is priceless, but if you blow off whatever classes you are taking, you will pay the price. It's just as much worth it to put in the effort here that it would be on campus. A few tips for staying on task:

1. Make a schedule. As I said before, I did this at home anyway, so it was easy for me to incorporate this here. (If you don't do this yet, start,)

2. Be flexible. This applies to a lot of things regarding study abroad, but especially applies to class. You may realize you forgot to finish something, or your group may procrastinate a project, so be ready to give up a plan you have made to get something done.

3. Remember that there's always tomorrow. There's so much adventure to fit into our time here. If you didn't get to visit that shop today, schedule it in for tomorrow. You'll get it all done, and it's important to put schoolwork first. 

32,400 minutes down, 10,800 minutes to go!