Lessons from Study Away

The first story I'd like to relate is when I asked my roommate Jose what he thought of me as a roommate and as a person. This came about because I was interviewing him for my Spanish Cultural Realities course about the Spanish perception of the United States and of Americans as a whole. He told me that he thought I was very nice and amiable since I was pretty cool with everything and did not cause any issues. After I'd let him borrow my metro card many times when he needed it, he also later told me that I was very charitable. What I took away from these moments is to never stop helping people in whatever small way I can because they will appreciate it. His assessment of me being charitable and kind is something I very much appreciated. From that, I am more resolved than ever to commit to just being someone who does nice things for just the sake of the helping people. Those acts of kindness are things I want to continue doing since I view them as a universal language all people can understand.

Another story I'd like to share is during the Holy Week and I believe on Saturday, the residence where I lived was not serving food on account of the holiday so I decided to go down to the supermarket/ department store Corte Ingles to get something for myself. I bought bread and cold cuts and a package of pears. When I got back, I decided to just do something nice and started making sandwiches. When people would inquire what I was doing I told them that if they wanted a sandwich they could have one. Those that had one said thank you and were grateful. From this, I still maintain that acts of kindness are universal and that you can help other people and yourself without conflict between the two.

Those two stories reflected on me during my time in Seville for both were boosts to my self-esteem and state of mind during my study abroad. Most days I did feel isolated and cut off from interacting with people. Those days however, I put myself out there and talked with people and interacted and just tried to do good things. Those are the days I'll remember when I come back to Allegheny and those are the experiences I wish to repeat.

Buildings can convey so much without words so too do can acts of kindness. Whereas buildings take time to build, an act of kindness can be done at anytime and anywhere.