Submitted by Hayden Atkinson on the 2024 Winter MSEG/PHYS/HIST program in Porto, Portugal …
Finally home! It feels like it’s been a year since I’ve seen my friends and family back here, even though it’s only been a month. To be honest, at first I was nervous about going on this study abroad trip. I had never been away from my family for that long, and I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to handle it. But after seeing the things I saw, going to the places I went, and doing the things I did, I can safely say that registering for this program has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I’ve had more “firsts” on this trip than any other. I made new friends, ate amazing local foods, and had the opportunity to experience different cultures in their purest forms.
As part of the trip, we overnighted in not just Porto, but also Lisbon, Geneva, Paris, Barcelona, and Milan. And while we didn’t stay overnight there, while we were in Italy, we also went to Como and even Venice. If someone were to ask me my favorite city we went to, I would probably say Barcelona; the city was drop-dead gorgeous and I had so much fun while I was there. That’s not to say that those places like Paris and Venice weren’t amazing; I also had a lot of fun while I was in those cities, going to places like the Eiffel Tower and St. Mark’s Square in Venice. Unfortunately, however, both Paris and Venice were foggy when we went there, so we were unable to see them in their full beauty. That being said, I still had a lot of fun.
Not to mention the personal growth I went through while I was over there; before the trip, I was shy, and unsure about how to make new friends. But after the trip, I can say that my social skills have noticeably improved, to the point that I have walked away with a few new friends.
I would highly recommend this study abroad program to anyone in a heartbeat, not just engineering and physics majors; through the program I was able to visit places and do things that I might have never been able to otherwise. Depending on what’s available, I would definitely be open to doing another study abroad in the future. (Submitted February 2, 2024)