Daniella Moreira ’19 is a senior international business major and international studies minor. She had the opportunity to spend a year studying in Barcelona, Spain. Coming home was one of the most difficult parts of Daniella’s experience abroad.
Arriving in Barcelona, Daniella met the other BCA students and her host mom, whom became her best friend. Throughout her semester, she toured the city and studied for her classes, some of which were more difficult than anticipated because they were lecture based with no PowerPoint. She quickly developed a routine of wandering the city after class and studying after dinner. As her time abroad wound to an end, she did not want to go home. She decided to stay in Spain after classes ended before flying back to the United States.
Coming home caused Daniella conflicting feelings. On one hand, she was excited to see her family and friends back home, but on the other hand, she was sad to leave a place she had made her new home.
Daniella chose to land in New York to see her grandmothers. She cried out of joy when finally seeing her family. Two days later, she moved back to Maryland, where she began an internship. Moving home provided its own adjustment problems, including jet lag. After finally adjusting to home life, Daniella found herself quickly moving back to school and having to readjust again. She began to miss Barcelona, especially when receiving pictures from her host family. It caused her to reminisce on spending time with her host family and other free time activities.
What Daniella learned most from returning is that she had changed. Besides her improved Spanish, she is more appreciative of her friends and she has become more organized and independent. She learned to enjoy life in new ways by studying abroad; she no longer worries about the little things. Recognizing these changes has allowed Daniella to adjust to a happy life in the United States.
*Click on the hyperlinks above to learn more about BCA Study Abroad’s Barcelona, Spain program and to read Daniella’s original blog published by BCA Study Abroad on February 27, 2019.
Blue Jays Abroad 
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