{"id":9146,"date":"2020-11-11T16:44:41","date_gmt":"2020-11-11T06:44:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.qut.edu.au\/gone-global\/?p=9146"},"modified":"2020-11-11T16:44:41","modified_gmt":"2020-11-11T06:44:41","slug":"my-experience-at-university-carlos-iii-de-madrid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.qut.edu.au\/gone-global\/2020\/11\/11\/my-experience-at-university-carlos-iii-de-madrid\/","title":{"rendered":"My Experience at University Carlos III De Madrid"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maria – University Carlos III De Madrid – Spain<\/h3>\n

Semester 1, 2020
\nBachelor of Engineering (Honours)<\/h3>\n

Although I knew exchange was going to be life changing for me, I didn\u2019t know\u00a0<\/span>it would be life changing in such a drastic way.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Before leaving for my exchange, I had made a l<\/span>ist of places I wanted to visit during my time abroad, as well as a mental list of some other experiences I wanted to have. I wanted to meet a lot of people from different\u00a0<\/span>places in the world, try new foods, maybe even learn a third language, and experience the night life of course.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As this was my\u00a0 first time trying to <\/span>carve my way through the world alone, the first few weeks were very hard, as I’d expected. <\/span>As I made new friends and learnt to navigate this new city <\/span>I was living in, I finally started to loosen up and check some things off my list. I certainly experienced the night life, met people from more places than I could count on <\/span>both of my hands, ate a lot of great foods and traveled to <\/span>some countries I had never been to before. However<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0this\u00a0<\/span>was cut short by a\u00a0<\/span>very unexpected worldwide pandemic. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Soon after the outbreak in Italy, most of Madrid was also\u00a0<\/span>badly affected. This meant university was closed, many of my friends were being called back to their countries of origin\u00a0<\/span>and the whole city went into lockdown. <\/span>This was undoubtedly the hardest part of my exchange. The uncertainty I felt when I first arrived\u00a0<\/span>could not compare to the uncertainty I felt now.<\/span>\u00a0I was prepared to miss my family and have to learn a\u00a0<\/span>brand-new<\/span>\u00a0way to navigate, I was prepared to have to make new friends<\/span>\u00a0and be financially organised to pay my bills as well as travel. But I was not prepared to have to\u00a0<\/span>say goodbye to my new friendships so soon or to have to flee the country practically <\/span>overnight<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I still have a long list of things unchecked<\/span>\u00a0that I wanted to\u00a0<\/span>do\u00a0<\/span>but\u00a0<\/span>didn\u2019t get time for.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>This has taught me to not\u00a0<\/span>take time for granted\u00a0<\/span>and always\u00a0<\/span>live without regrets and do the things that bring happiness, because you never know what the future holds for you. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Enjoy every little moment<\/span>!!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n