One thing I was most nervous about with this experience, was the chance to make new friends. It is a bit daunting to think you will be around people you have never met before from your own university for two straight weeks. You will be paired with a roommate for the rest of the trip and you have free time almost every day to hangout with one another, so the chance to create those relationships is important. I am blessed to say that I made friends with everyone on our Maymester to Spain. All of our participants were so nice and enjoyable to be around, and we could not have asked for better professors. When I look back on it now, the people you travel with really can make our break your experience. These individuals made the experience for me though! Everywhere we went, we all took the time to put our phones away and just enjoy each others company. If we were touring a monument, we would take a quick picture and then soak in the moment without our faces being in our phones. I can say for certain that the peers I traveled with to Spain are now some of my best friends. One of my favorite parts about the group, was that there were only three other guys so this made it easier to become friends with all the guys. Funny enough, we all got so close that everywhere we went, the girls would ask the guys to pose for our “broto.” The bros had to always take a picture, but it is those pictures I will look back on and smile.
Towards the end of our trip, we were all getting sad that we had to go back home and leave each other. We even planned out a reunion on our last night in Spain for when we got back to Athens. I am so thankful for the University of Georgia and the College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences for allowing me to go on this trip, but I am even more thankful for the other 19 students I got to experience Spain with. Friendships, bromances and lifelong memories were created in Spain, and for that, I will always be thankful!
