Motivation
Not only is it a requirement for my degree, I saw it as an opportunity to improve my Spanish beyond the classroom and since I find I learn languages best through immersion exchange was perfect. It also allowed me to see more of the world and gain a different university experience.
Personal Development
I developed friendships with people from all over the world as ell as connections with professors that work in my area outside of teaching. Because of the business focus of IE I also learnt coding, about the surveys and research methods that are essential to social sciences. I learnt how to keep a cool head in stressful situations as well as embrace spontaneity. My Spanish improves tremendously as did my confidence to speak allowing me to communicate without stressing about grammar.
Academic Development
I developed great relationships with my professors which assisted my learning and I hope to bring that to UQ. I also got accustomed to various ways of assessment such as presentations, briefs, essays, reports and exams. The smaller classes allowed for in depth exploration of topics which I thoroughly enjoyed. Professors at IE give very brief assessment descriptions, unlike UQ making it challenging to understand what exactly they wanted. The workload is smaller than UQs if you keep up with study through out the semester. Because they rely more heavily on exams the workload in between exams can seem too relaxed but doing small doses of extra study throughout the semester proves easier than last minute studying and more rewarding.
Professional Development
I learnt to be super flexible with my time as the timetable and assessment due dates were constantly changing. IE relies a lot on group work so my ability to work in a team, compromise, synthesise, compartmentalise and letting go, were all skills I improved. I am also more confident to take risk, personally but also professionally, even if that is organising meetings to clarify something or challenging superiors (respectfully of course).
Funding
Most of my money went to rent, a small studio flat €1,100 a month. Amenities not included around €50 a month. This is expensive accomodation but I know there are more affordable options in share houses it just depends if you can live with 5-8 other people as the share houses tend to be occupied by many. There are also student accomodation companies which charge €1,500-1,700 but I heard they weren't very good.
Transport in Madrid was super cheap with a student card costing €8 a month
Tried to keep groceries between €30-50
Chose to save for bigger trips rather than nights out that were about €200 for a weekend (within Spain)
Advice/Top Tips
Put yourself out there! Worst case scenario: you do something embarrassing, but hey you don't have to see them ever again after this. Best case scenario: you make life long friends and then try to organise zoom calls across three different time zones.
