Make Friends Abroad with España Ida y Vuelta from FIU

At Florida International University (FIU), España Ida y Vuelta is a program in which students can study abroad in Spain. The program is three weeks and they explore the country’s cathedrals, and beautiful culture and get to know one another all together.

The focus for this program was based on ideas related to how beneficial studying abroad is even if your career path does not align with the program you would like to attend. Three of my friends, Vanessa Berrios, Raquel Alespeiti, and Andrea Alespeiti, were students that studied abroad in Spain.

Fun fact: From 2016-2024, FIU’s most popular locations in the world to study abroad were Spain, Italy, France, United Kingdom, and Japan.

Connect with some college students that studied abroad

I interviewed my friends to learn more about what they did around town, what they wanted to study while abroad, and where their adventures took them in Europe.

These were the main questions we asked them to get the conversation going:

Were you able to explore other cities or countries while studying abroad?
Did the courses coincide with what you are studying?
How did your experiences in Spain shape you as a person and/ or student?

A heartfelt thank you to my amazing friends Raquel, Vanessa, and Andrea for joining me in such an engaging and thoughtful conversation. I truly enjoyed hearing about their unforgettable experience studying abroad in Spain. Listening to their stories, I felt like I was right there with them… exploring new places, trying new things, and making lifelong memories. It was inspiring to hear how they embraced a new culture while still feeling grounded and connected to their university community. Moments like these are such a powerful reminder of how transformative study abroad can be, and I’m so glad we get to share these insights with future students who are considering taking that leap.