¡Hola a todos!

Currently, I am a little past halfway through the trimester at UPF, which feels insane to write knowing my friends at Pitt have more than a month left to go. At UPF, they follow a trimester system instead of a semester system. This means that the trimesters/semesters are a lot shorter than what I am used to at Pitt. My classes started on January 12, and I only have two more weeks of classes as they end on the 10th of March and finals end on the 19th. Although classes here end earlier than those at Pitt, they are also a lot longer. Here, my classes are two hours or two hours and fifteen minutes, depending on the class. Some professors give a short five-to-ten-minute break in the middle of classes since they are so long, whereas other professors opt to end class five to ten minutes early.

At UPF, I am taking approximately twelve Pitt credits through three different classes: Intermediate Spanish B1, LGBTQ+ Studies, and Consumer Behavior. My Spanish class is approximately six Pitt credits and is taken every day whereas my other two classes are about three credits each and are taken every other day. Classes here are a bit different than at Pitt, with a huge weight put on exams and very little weight placed on assignments and homework. In all my classes, there is no grade for completing the homework. You are expected to complete it but are not penalized if you don’t. Despite this, it is still important to do the homework to improve your overall comprehension of the material and prepare for the midterm and/or final. 

To succeed in classes abroad, it’s very important to attend class and pay attention. While abroad, it is very easy to want to skip class to explore the city or travel. However, to get the most out of your classes while abroad, you need to come to class every day, unless you are sick, and giving your professors your full attention. This ensures that you not only get credit for your classes but also succeed.

For the most part, I enjoy taking classes at UPF. If you are planning to study abroad in Spain, or at any university in a country that speaks a different language, I highly recommend taking a language class. Taking Spanish in Spain has enabled me to learn more than I have in any Spanish class in the United States because I am immersed in the language every day. Although traveling and experiencing the culture in the city is extremely important, I would argue that the academics while abroad are equally as important.

Que tenga buena suerte en tus estudios,

René