Chad Friend in London this summer.

Although you may think that studying abroad is not for you or will not benefit your major, there are plenty of options that Maryville offers during the summer. Two students that recently studied abroad this summer are Chad Friend and Leo Bassi. Both students are going into their senior year at Maryville and both had amazing experiences this summer. Chad Friend, a Marketing and Sport Business Management major spent his summer taking classes London, England. Leo Bassi, a member of the Maryville men’s soccer team is a Legal Studies major with an International Studies minor studied in Madrid, Spain.

Friend was in London from June 18 through July 9. He was accompanied by Maryville professors, Dr. Albrecht and Dr. Murray. While in London, he earned 6 credits that counted toward his majors, which were “British Business and Marketing” and also “International Business”.

After being back for a while Friend can now take in what he learned from the classes. “We were able to not only go visit different businesses in London such as Lloyds of London, Enterprise, and Harrods just to name a few places. Seeing how their day to day operations go with the city as well as other things going on around the world. The biggest difference I felt was the amount of walking you did everyday in order to get places”, said Friend.

Outside of the classroom, he had free time to explore the city with his classmates and professors. London being such a larger, diverse city always had so many things for him and his classmates to do and explore. Friend said, “We walked around daily to see different sites and try to see them while “being” someone from London. The thing we experienced that was the most memorable was going to Wimbledon and experiencing everything that goes on there during the event.”

Friend will surely never forget his 3 weeks in London as he has over a thousand pictures to remember his experience. Not only did he have a great time, but he also earned 6 credits that will count towards his major. He highly recommends students of Maryville to study abroad in London next summer, whether it be for the 3 week trip or the 6 week trip to London that Maryville also offers. “It’s a great experience in itself.  It’s something that if able to do you should go. You get to see many different things that you usually only read about in textbooks, but by going you get to see those places as well as experience the culture of the place your visiting but the other cultures that are there to visit the city”, said Friend.

Another student who had an incredible experience studying abroad this summer was Leo Bassi. Bassi was in Madrid, Spain from May 18 through June 12. Although he was only there for 3 weeks, he took 3 classes and earned 9 credits, which count toward his minor. The classes he took were “Madrid Museums and Galleries”, taught by Maryville Professor Mike Schatz, “Intensive Spanish” and “Experiencing Madrid”, which was an independent study. 

During his time in Madrid, Bassi tried as much as he could to explore the city. His “Madrid Museums and Galleries” class required him to visit some of the most famous museums in Europe and do critiques on the artwork. The Prado, the Reina Sofia and the Thyssen Bornemisza were just a few of the museums he went to in Madrid.

Soccer enthusiast Bassi also had the opportunity to see Real Madrid, one of the best teams in world play an exhibition game. “I got to see legendary players like Zidane and Figo play, so that was like a dream come true”, said Bassi. When he wasn’t in class, he also got more of his soccer fix by going to an athletic facility within the Parque del Retiro to play soccer with the locals.

Overall Bassi found the Madrid to be a true learning experience. “The adapting part of the trip I think is a huge valuable experience. My Intensive Spanish class was just like it sounds. We had class four hours a day, everyday. My particular class consisted mainly of writing compositions and speaking Spanish, with the use of new vocabulary that we would learn each week. We also learned about the type of lifestyle people in Spain have and we also looked at the history and how that history made what Spain is today”, said Bassi.

Bassi also had his thoughts about Spain and the lifestyle there, which is quite different than United States. “In my opinion, everything is Spain was different in comparison to America. From the music they listen to, the food they eat, the way they drive to the way they party. But the most obvious was the way people in Spain live their lives.  People in Spain live to enjoy their lives, while people in America live to work. Spaniards are very laidback and whenever they get a chance to just relax and enjoy the little things life throws at us, they do so”, said Bassi. 

Leo Bassi in front of the Madrid Palace.

After being home and in his normal routine, Bassi has had time to take in what he has experienced in the land of tapas and sangria. Bassi strongly recommends future students to look into studying abroad in Madrid. “It gives students the opportunity to travel outside of the United States and it is a great opportunity to practice a second language”, said Bassi. The only thing Bassi regrets is that he did not study for longer than 3 weeks. “I just felt that three weeks was not enough time. If you study abroad during the summer, I would recommend only taking six credit hours instead of nine. I just know that if I would of taken six, I would have had way more time to explore Spain”, said Bassi.