During the spring semester brother Tyler Stearns studyied abroad in Spain. After returning home, Tyler had the oppurtunity to reflect upon his journey:

Since freshman year, I’ve always known that I have wanted to spend a semester abroad; however, the specific location always seemed to allude me. Once Brother Burke and I settled our intentions of studying in the same location, we searched for a change in culture, but were limited to our monolingualism. We narrowed our focus to Europe, hoping to maximize our diverse experiences while simultaneously minimizing our constant appeals to our parent’s for the ever-needed additional Euros (the conversion was brutal). When looking at the possible locations that our program offered we set our eyes on Barcelona, Spain. We both had heard that many of the locals spoke English (which turned out to be false) and were thrilled about the opportunity to be living in a beach city that boasted both a rich history and an incredible night life. So we left the frigid winter weather of America in early January and moved into an apartment in the Gracia area of Barcelona to spend the next three months as Europeans.

The first month of living abroad was a huge adjustment, not just to the European culture, but also the transition from a born-and-raised suburbanite to a city of around 1.5 million. Brother Burke and I were slow starters compared to our peers that were studying with us; after our initial scarring of being lost on the metro for over two hours we finally learned how to effectively utilize the public transportation system. Transportation was not the only area where we felt significant setbacks, but also the cultural difference of food. The Spanish treat their meals as social periods, where enjoying the company and meal was more important than efficiency. As Brother Burke and I discovered through one of our Spanish class assignments, most meals consist of a small breakfast, a large lunch (followed by an hour siesta), and an appallingly late dinner that started from anywhere between 9 and 11 pm. Everything seemed to be delayed in Barcelona, including going out, where many people would stay out until sunrise every night.  Communication was also extremely difficult as Barcelona resides in the autonomous community of Catalonia that fosters its only separate language, Catalan, and culture from the rest of Spain, although people in Catalonia can still speak Spanish or Castilian as many spitefully referred to it. These are just some of the initial adjustments I had to adapt to throughout the three months.

Being a double-major in Economics and Government and Law, I decided to take a mix of courses to see the contrasting differences between the European and American system. I discovered that although my classes were distinct in subject, they were much more interconnected than my classes in America. I observed that the economy and the government were more inherently related in not only Spain, but in many other European countries as well. Countless times my commute to classes would be delayed by throngs of people protesting budget cuts of anything from healthcare to education and the omnipresent beggars (Barcelona also boats the highest pick pocketing rate in Europe). Suffering from the collapse of the Spanish housing market and banking system, I lived in Spain during a time of social and economic turmoil exacerbated by widespread political corruption which included bribery of the President and embezzlement by the Spanish royal family. Despite this, I continued to enjoy the little time I had in Europe, traveling to Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, among other places. Barcelona was a beautiful, young, and vibrant city that provided everything and more that I needed during my time there.  Although I can’t say my Spanish is any better, it was an experience which I would not trade for the world and I am utterly grateful to my parents for providing me the opportunity.

This summer I am interning as a Regulatory Analyst at the National Stock Exchange, Inc., where I assist monitoring and investigating SEC and Exchange violations by trading firms.