PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (February 10, 2022) – As the world approaches the two-year mark of the start of the pandemic, more and more opportunities to return to pre-pandemic activities are becoming available. Prairie View A&M University student Kendall Brown, a finance major, has just returned from his study abroad trip to Spain. Brown was the first PVAMU student to travel internationally for study since the start of pandemic precautions at the university in March 2020.
Originally from Katy, Texas, Brown is no stranger to international travel, as he says he had been to several countries prior to his recent study abroad journey to Spain. This time, however, was a little bit different.
“To travel anywhere, you must be vaccinated,” said Brown. “Ironically, they actually asked for my vaccine card more than my passport.”
Standing Out in the Crowd
Aside from adjusting to rigorous COVID precautions, Brown had to grow accustomed to being the only American in the class while studying at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. In addition, out of approximately 20,000 students at the university, he said he only saw about ten other Black students in attendance—and they were mostly from Africa. Despite this, the people welcomed him.
“I didn’t face too much discrimination,” said Brown. “I just got a few eyes because A) I’m black, but not African, and B) I actually worked out quite a lot, so oftentimes I was the biggest person in the room. When I was with my friends who are predominantly white, I noticed that I assumed a sort of protective role, which wasn’t bad in any way, just different.”
Brown said he had heard that it’s much different for African American study abroad students living in China, where people stop on the street to take pictures of them just because they are Black.
“Spaniards are just more laid back,” Brown said.
Being Bilingual Creates Connections
As a Gilman Scholarship recipient, Brown is accustomed to hard work and perseverance to obtain his goals. While working at a local grocery store in his hometown, he realized that many people he helped and worked with were native Spanish speakers, and he did not speak Spanish well enough to communicate with them on more than a superficial level. He sought to change that.
“Being in Texas, you are surrounded by a large Latino community,” said Brown. “At H-E-B, I encountered them every day, and I couldn’t help but notice a language barrier. I wanted to fix this—I wanted to travel to Spain to learn Spanish and better connect with the people back home.”
Brown said he could have just as easily chosen to attend a university in South America for exposure to Spanish, but he chose Spain because he wanted to travel around Europe to experience the different cultures and visit locations he had only read about in books and seen on TV.
“In Spain, I could visit a historic place, it didn’t matter what, and when I touched it, I felt a building that was 1,000 years old,” said Brown. “That, to me, is still hard to grasp.”
When not traveling over the long weekends that Spain celebrates throughout the fall, Brown said he was able to experience just as much culture simply by sitting in the classroom—one of the benefits of studying abroad.
“I think it’s crazy how I could introduce myself to someone next to me, and they barely speak English and are from France,” said Brown. “I just found it amazing that there was someone my age who grew up in a different environment, and here we were in the same class. It’s just crazy how life is different for some people.”
It’s the Little Things
Throughout his travels in Spain, Brown noticed several things that distinguish Spaniards from Americans.
“People love to do everything late,” exclaimed Brown. “They eat late and stay up super late. And, they love to walk their dogs, quite often, without a leash. But, the dogs are so well-behaved! They walk past you like they have somewhere to be, especially the Dachshunds. They’ll walk ahead and wait for their owner. It’s just adorable, and it makes me want to train my dog to do the same.”
Another difference Brown noted is the activity level of Spaniards, which typically means a fitter population.
“They love bread and eat quite healthy,” said Brown. “Europeans eat light and are relatively skinny since in Madrid, especially, they walk everywhere, and the food is never processed.”
Building for the Future
Brown said he expects his experience in Spain to be a boon for his future career, with prospective employers eager to hire someone whose people skills and breadth of experience can translate into diligence and outside-the-box thinking.
Pursuing a career as an international banker and trader, Brown’s newly acquired skills will help him make the right connections on the road to a conscientious career choice.
“Most companies, from my experience, like an employee that has experience and can adapt to whatever environment they’re in,” said Brown. “A soft skill that I developed in Spain is connecting with others. How can you become friends and essentially win a person over when you two have vastly different backgrounds? Simple: you find common ground.”
Be the Next One on the Plane
For PVAMU students interested in studying abroad in either the summer or fall semesters this year, Marcus King, program coordinator for the Office of International Programs at PVAMU, said there are opportunities that can be found on the PVAMU Study Abroad webpage.
“Currently, we have 7 faculty-led program options for students to participate in the spring and summer of 2022,” King said. “These options range from opportunities to take courses in business, health, nursing, criminal justice, communications, engineering and more!”
For study abroad opportunities during the summer semester, students must apply by March 1. To study abroad during the fall semester, students must apply by April 1.
“So many people, so many different cultures to learn about, so little time,” Brown said.
-PVAMU-