Sol Education Abroad: Study in Granada, Spain

Sol Education provided the perfect foundation for me to study abroad! I had the best host mom, the best community around me, and the best directors. All these things combined made for the perfect setting to improve my Spanish. It truly got so much better over the course of a month and I attribute that to the foundation that Sol provided. Hard work and desire was also involved, but Sol made it so easy to have that passion to learn Spanish when you love the environment around you! The best thing about Sol is that there are often 2-3 activities per week. And that is really great because it gets you involved in the culture as well as involves you with your peers. It gives one a chance to get to know everyone in their program and I found that awesome because due to that, I met so many incredible people!

I loved Sol and Granada both so much. I wish i could have stayed longer. I really enjoyed the weekend excursions the program had planned for us but I also liked the free weekends we were given to do just anything we wanted to do. TRAVEL TRAVEL TRAVEL while you can. While you're in Europe there are so many fun (and cheap when compared to the prices in the US) destinations that are right at your fingertips. I wish the program would have had bigger destinations for a weekend excursion (which I am pretty sure they had if I had stayed longer) but I think going to Sevilla, Portugal, or Morocco would have been so cool. I will for sure be recommending this program to others at my school and others in my program. I am so happy that I went out of my comfort zone and studied abroad.

I have visited Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Granada on Spanish Immersion Programs and my time spent in Granada was by far my favorite. My host family in Granada was so welcoming; Bernarda and Cristobal were the best host parents. We ate delicious meals every day, and had great conversations about Spanish Culture and American Culture. My classes were good, they weren't quite as challenging as I had hoped, but also weren't a breeze. The University of Granada was a great place to study, and was only a 15-20 minute walk from my host families home. By far my favorite part about the trip were the people and the activities available to me. Outside of the great programed activities, my friends and I were able to find many other engaging things to do in the city. Granada is super pedestrian friendly and whether we were just walking, shopping or visiting museums, I always felt like the city had something new to offer. Alejandro and Rocío, our two program directors were extremely helpful in dealing with any sort of problem that arose and were great tour guides throughout the city. Rocío's knowledge of the area made my experience feel super authentic and Alejandro's passion for history translated into our visits. I would highly recommend participating in the SOL Abroad summer immersion program, not only for the wonderful experiences in Granada, but also for the friendships that I have maintained months after leaving Spain!

My experience with SOL was life-changing. I was able to significantly improve my Spanish comprehension and speaking. My professors, program directors, and host family made me feel truly welcomed to Spain and gave me much needed cultural context. I made such amazing friends and experienced so much life in the short amount of time I was living in Spain. I'm even considering moving to Spain after graduation!

It's hard to put into words without sounding cliché, but this study abroad experience was one I will remember for the rest of my life. It challenged me in more ways than one as I got the chance to receive credit, become more confident in a second language, meet SO many awesome people from around the world, and really just dive in and explore one city out of the many many this world has to offer (with the help of SOL Education Abroad).
The best way to sum up how I feel once returning to the US would be that I would be happy with one weekend here with family and friends and then I'd hop right back on the next plane back to Spain. Everything is so new, exciting, and puts you out of your comfort zone. I felt as though I could go back and be a tour guide for my family and friends if we ever return. From the diverse cultural activities (anything from the beaches to the mountains - my favorite activity was canyoning in Rio Verde - all within an hour apart) to the jaw-dropping sunsets, Granada definitely stole my heart.
I would highly recommend any student (with a reason or without) to trust in SOL and let them help you create your own experience. Studying abroad impacts every student in their own way and more often than not it doesn't fail to broaden his/her perspective on life! You hear about it all the time from friends, so when the opportunity presents itself, definitely just say yes and spend the money because life is way too short not to go!

This was my first time going abroad without family, or a friend. By going on this trip, and doing the things I did (traveling to different cities, countries, doing new things) I proved to myself that I can be independent. Not only that, but I also learned to adapt; adapt to a new culture, lifestyle, food, mentality. After this experience I feel like I get to take home with me a deeper understanding and appreciation of culture, and widened perspective of the world and culture. This was by far the most worthwhile experience of my life! I would recommend going abroad with SOL to anyone who has a slight interest in learning more about the world.

First, I can hardly believe that this is ending already. Since arriving in Granada, I was in awe of all the culture. But it wasn´t until soon after that the culture shock hit a bit too hard and suddenly I was surrounded by people I didn´t know and put in a classroom. It was a bit much to take in all at once. I think that every future participant should know that studying abroad is bound to be uncomfortable and that they shouldn´t feel guilty for feeling so or being homesick. However, the SOL experience was full of things to get my mind off how I felt, kicking off with some of the most amazing cultural experiences of my life. Up until the end it was filled with one of a kind experiences. On top of that, the sooner you have people to go out with, the sooner you have your own unique experiences like exploring the city, the country, or even other countries nearby. Those will make for some of the best stories. I can already tell that this has been a huge impact on my life and within this month alone I feel like I´ve grown and changed. As much as I´m looking forward to being back in the states, I don´t regret my experience here and I´m extremely thankful for it and how fortunate I am to have been in the SOL program.

SOL has created an amazing program in Granada Spain. Granada is one of the cleanest cities that I have been to and is also a very welcoming environment to learn Spanish in. From wandering the halls of the Alhambra to paddle boarding in Nerja SOL provides the absolute biggest bang for for your buck when it comes to study abroad programs. Their staff is also extremely helpful and cared so much about my well being that they escorted me to the dentist to help translate when I had an issue.