As summer came to a close with fall semester quickly approaching, returning students and incoming freshman excitedly packed their suitcases, shopped for dorm furniture and decorations and awaited the greatly anticipated move-in day at their prospective schools.

A small group of students from Suffolk University though, only packed a couple suitcases, boarded a plane and moved to a foreign country. Suffolk University is fortunate enough to have an extensive study-abroad program available to its students. The University has campuses in Dakar, Senegal and Madrid, Spain; there is also a wide selection of other countries for study abroad opportunities.

On August 25, a group of students  from all over the world arrived at the Madrid campus for a unique college experience.

Rachael Brandon, a freshman from California and a global business/ management major, feels there is a difference between beginning college at an American university versus a school in a foreign country.

“I feel I am gaining way more out of this experience than if I were to be going to college in America,” said Brandon. “I am surrounded by another culture and gaining a greater outlook on life in different parts of the world.”

Suffolk Madrid, commonly referred to as SUMC, is home to rich Spanish culture as well as home to a variety of other international students. Germans, Spaniards, Americans, Norwegians and a multitude of other backgrounds are gathered together in classrooms each day. With so such diverse backgrounds and personalities, and the added factor of being in a completely different country, some may believe the transition to be difficult for many students to adjust.

Kristen Contreras, a junior from Suffolk’s Boston campus, is spending her fall semester at the Madrid campus and thought the transition went smoothly.

“Everyone here is in the same boat. We are in a foreign country and want to stick together, so it makes living here and the transition easier. ”

Contreras also added it was easier to make friends at the Madrid campus in comparison to the larger campus in Boston.

“Madrid is just a more intimate setting compared to the craziness of the city of Boston.”

Jim Emery, a senior from the Boston campus also spending a semester in Madrid, agrees.

“The differences between Suffolk Madrid and Suffolk Boston, for one, is the community here at SUMC. It’s smaller, thus making it more intimate in the way that we are very family based. I like that a lot.”

As the capital of Spain, Madrid is the perfect location for students to study abroad. Full of life, history and culture, Madrid offers students a multitude of opportunities not available in America.

“There is not one place in the world I don’t want to see!” said Contreras. “So being in Madrid is the perfect place to be because it’s so convenient and traveling here is cheap. You can’t really just travel like this in states! “

Suffolk Madrid also offers students the opportunity to experience Spain by organizing weekend trips to various parts of the country, tours, museum visits and cultural exchanges.  This type of cultural exposure is already affecting Suffolk Madrid students in a positive manner.

Freshman Tyler Gosselin from Manchester, New Hampshire, already sees the positive outcome of his choice to spend his first year abroad and is confident with his choice.

“I definitely feel as though I’m getting more out of the Madrid Campus than I would at a traditional American college. I can already see myself changing in the short time that I’ve been here. The culture has changed my opinion on so many things, and my perspective on what I feel is truly important.”