Chad Heise, a junior math and computer science double major, went to Alcoy, Spain, as part of the summer engineering program in 2010.
Watch his video here: Notre Dame Alcoy Adventures 2010
How was your experience abroad different from life at Notre Dame?
Everyday we walked through the city of Alcoy to get to class. Instead of being isolated from the rest of the world as it sometimes seems on the Notre Dame campus, we were out in society with people going to work and walking their children to school. We were constantly exposed to the unique daily life of the citizens of Alcoy as opposed to living solely in a world of college students or a world of tourists as is sometimes experienced in larger European cities.
What was your most valuable lesson?
Plan trips well. Having a well thought out plan as to where you are going, what you want to see, and where you will stay will maximize fun and minimize stress. It is really easy to get lost and confused in an unfamiliar country where English is not the primary language but with a little bit of thought ahead of time, you can see everything there is to see and have a blast!
Go to ndsmcobserver.com/scene and click on "Share your abroad experience!" to learn how to add your own video to our Scene Around the World Series.
