It's Finally Here!

Hi, all! My name is Connie Woo and I am a rising senior at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where I am majoring in Molecular and Cellular Biology with minors in Chemistry and Business in hopes of becoming a dentist one day. No words can express how excited I am to be studying and living in one of the greatest cities in the world for the next six weeks!

Being a prehealth student, it was really difficult for me to find a program that would allow me to graduate on time because most of my classes needed for credits are not offered abroad. Luckily, I found this program in Barcelona and I am really looking forward to taking Spanish classes and submerging myself in the culture because I have been interested in Spain since I took Spanish classes back in middle school. I think what I'm really hoping to get out of this trip is to push myself out of my comfort zone and meet new people, try new things, and learn things about myself that I did not know before. I'm going into the trip not knowing anyone beforehand and it's a little scary to think about now but I really think this will be a great experience for me. 

I've heard from countless friends that this was something I absolutely should do in my college career and I can't believe the trip I've been planning for months is finally here.  I hope that you follow me as I go on this incredible journey this summer! That's it for now - until next time! :)

Last minute packing tips:

Clothes - Take out 1/3 of the initally packed clothes because you don't need as much as you think you do and if not, you can always buy clothes here

Money - Try not to bring US dollars and instead bring a debit card with partner banks here that won't charge you the transaction fee. It's such a hassle and costs a lot of money to convert dollars to euros here.

Bags - Bring a cross body bag that's comfortable to travel around with. Pickpocketers are notorious here so they're less likely to target you if you carry around a satchel.