Name: Allison Stendardi
Class: 2005
Major: English
Minor: Communications
Hometown: Saratoga, NY

Studied at: Suffolk University Madrid—Spring 04 

“I could probably talk about it forever.”

Allison had taken Spanish since the 7th grade, and after six years of talking about the culture, she says, “I thought it would be great to go there and learn it from experience, because learning from a book can only get you so far. The fact that Suffolk has a campus in Madrid made it easier. It was easy to switch over classes, and the paperwork process was easier.”

Allison traveled extensively, often with programs that were run by the school. She went to Barcelona; Asturias, which offered a more nature-oriented opportunity to hike in the mountains; and Malaga, where she and her classmates had ample time to enjoy the beaches. She also visited Northern Italy, Ireland, and the South of France.

“The travel was fun, but one of the most amazing things I felt about traveling was how big the world is. Every time you fly into a new airport or step out into a new city you realize that there are people who were born there, people who have died there, and lived their whole life there, and people who just came for a day. I don’t think you can appreciate that until you leave your own corner of the earth and just land somewhere else for a while.

Allison loved Madrid. “It’s a wonderful, dynamic city. The nightlife is unlike any other place I’ve ever been. There’s so much good art, there’s always something to do, and the Spanish people just love life. They’re always out in the street. They walk around with smiles, enjoying life.”

Allison lived with Señora Maria and her two teenaged children. “She was an art restorer for the Prado, so I got to go to her workshop, and when my mother came to visit – she’s an artist – she checked out the workshop. Just living there every day, living their lifestyle—I wouldn’t have chosen any other way. It was a totally wonderful experience.”

She described her experience of random acts of kindness from strangers that made her feel comfortable and safe. On one occasion, she was taking the metro alone. “It goes six escalators down into the ground, and I wasn’t feeling well and I fainted on the train in rush hour. And you’d think I’d get robbed, or stepped on, but instead this little old Spanish man helped me off the train and sat with me until I was feeling better. That kind of kindness happened all the time.”

One of the things Allison liked most about her classes was that “If you learned about the Escorial in the history of Spain you could go to see it that weekend. Everything was experience-oriented and interactive with the culture. I liked the way they encouraged you to travel and go to theater, and I had an absolutely priceless experience. Now I really want to explore working abroad, or teaching abroad.”