Tips to prepare for your departure to universities in Spain.
August is coming to an end. The start of your studies in Spain is getting closer every day!
It's time to prepare your departure to Spain.
You have just spent about 6 intense months between searching for universities and discovering previously unknown acronyms: UAX, UEV, UCAM, UFV... You have made one or more trips to Spain to discover your new home. You've passed the admission tests, graduated from high school and even taken the Credencial! So, you think, the hardest part is done...
Well, no! You feel it, dozens (hundreds??) of questions come to your mind. You (your parents?) want to control everything to arrive without stress... It's impossible! Stress is part of this experience. It is the adrenaline you need to get through the first few days.
A small selection, in no particular order, of the questions and thoughts that we are asked:
- How to take the bus?
- Where to buy a notebook?
- Am I registered correctly?
- What did I get myself into?
- Where do I shop?
- How does this damn washing machine work? MAmaaaaaannn!
- I need a pen?
- When I enter the campus, is it left or right?
- Is it normal that I don't understand anything when someone speaks to me in Spanish?
- Don't they have normal croissants here? Like in France...
- What is my classroom?
- ...
We will not answer these questions because we trust you.
The support we have set up with you has been studied (if your parents have trusted you enough too):
- So that, progressively, you will be able to advance alone in your project and therefore you will now be sufficiently armed to fully enjoy your life as a student in Spain.
- So that you can be a little more autonomous every day.
- So that you can find your own answers to your questions.
- So that you can be part of a network of students "like you" and so that solidarity is created (fundamental abroad).
Don't feel like you can control everything?
Well, that's just not possible. You might go to the wrong classroom on the first day, you might take the wrong bus home. It is likely that a Spanish person will speak to you and you will nod with a smile without having understood anything, that you will think you are buying green beans and in fact you will end up with garlic shoots (real experience!)... In short, nothing will go exactly as you thought it would, however, very quickly, everything will settle down, everything will become "normal" again.
Trust yourself and turn a possible crying fit into a probable laughing fit. ????
Don't worry! It happens to everyone and that's where motivation and language skills come into play.
If after 3 days you want to go home, you probably didn't imagine it that way. So hang in there and think about the end goal. These few weeks are hard, but it is so worth it to experience what comes next.
In summary, here are some tips for your arrival in Spain:
- Be prepared to enter the unknown. You will not be able to control everything. Let yourself be guided and ask!
- Use the tools at your disposal: applications, virtual campus, bulletin board, admissions service, student care service, websites, FranEspagne Education Facebook group for your university, Google Maps...
- Put it in perspective! You missed the very first class because you are on the wrong campus (beware, Google Maps is not perfect!). It's not a big deal. It won't affect your future career! Pay attention for the next class.
- Do not isolate yourself! It is very important to get to know other students so that you don't stay alone. So if you are shy or if the language scares you, you will have to make that extra effort. Who told you that studying in Spain was easy? Certainly not us! ????
- Do your paperwork from the beginning! It's tedious, yes, but it's essential! Spanish telephone, transport card, NIE, social security, bank account, gas and electricity companies... Everything has to be done. So just do it. ????
Once the emotion of the arrival is over, the daily routine will quickly fall back on you. Make sure you live it as well as possible and follow the Spanish example: improvise and be positive! ????
Good preparation!
See you soon!
