The World in Malaga

Leah Miller is a student at Westminster College and an ISA Featured Blogger. Leah is currently studying abroad with ISA in Málaga, Spain.

I knew studying abroad would be an influential experience, but I was never able to comprehend just how much I would learn and change during my time in Spain.  My beliefs and thoughts about the world have been expanding and changing all throughout my time in college; however, this experience has completely shaken up how I think.

I have studied with people from all over the world, who introduce new ideas and advice every day. I have spent my afternoons talking with a 50 year old woman about her experience being imprisoned in her twenties because she stood up for women’s rights in her country and danced the night away with an incredibly intelligent freelance journalist and junior high teacher from Norway.  I have learned about the Chinese culture from the first hand experience of four women in my class. My eyes have truly been opened in ways I could never have imagined.

All of these have been priceless moments in my life where I realized just how truly large the world is and how much there is to learn about others. However, having all these talented human beings with their intriguing histories in one room also makes the world seem small. We are all together here in Malaga to learn Spanish, but I have learned so much more than that; I have learned about life and foreign cultures I otherwise wouldn’t have.

I have been given advice about life by an abundance of people all with valid points that have challenged everything I thought. I have been having the greatest time learning, talking and finding out who I really am. I have discovered where my passions lie. I have changed; I have changed some of my ways of thinking, have become stronger in other beliefs, have grown, and have met people who have forever changed my life.