Alexandria is a third-year Bachelor of International Business (BIB) student in the Spanish language stream. She is studying at Universidad Publica de Navarra in Pamplona, Spain. (All students in the BIB program are required to study abroad for their third year at one of our partner institutions.)
Introduce yourself! Tell us a little bit about your goals and interests:
I've been so excited for my exchange long before I even knew this program existed! This opportunity is going to be so great for learning more about living in a brand-new culture and becoming fully immersed in a new language. I have a big goal of hitting 15 countries while I'm abroad, so I'll be making plenty of adventures! In my free time, I've always loved photography, so another big goal of mine is to figure out how to actually use my big camera & take it with me to track my adventures.
Why did you choose your language?
In a business-sense, I thought it was the most fitting as it holds a presence in the most areas around the world. Another big factor was that my family has tried learning little bits for vacations growing up and I thought it would be fun to finally nail down the whole language so I could chat with locals wherever we travelled.
Have you ever travelled overseas before? If so, where?
One of my family's biggest (and most favourite) adventures was to Thailand! We spent two weeks travelling the whole country, and although it was our greatest experience of culture shock, it also pushed us out of our comfort zones and we learned so much! A few years later, my Dad & I took a father-daughter trip to Europe! In three weeks, we covered Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, France (spent my Dad's birthday on top the Eiffel Tower!) and England.
What 3 things MUST you take with you while abroad?
What are you most looking forward to?
I'm most looking forward to the adventures I'll have in different countries or cities around the continent. My main goal is to not hit the over-touristy places and dig for the local highlights. I'm hoping to meet up with my best meet friends who are also on exchange (we're already planning our trips), but also to meet locals and other exchange students who are looking to explore a new city.