mandatory service (50 hours)

B.U.L.L.S.H.I.T. pardon my language. the spanish department designs the whole progam for us here. on top of this new idea of an intership, which i think is a good opportunity and will look great on a resume. and it gives us something to do. it's awesome that it's in our field (major). we need 100 hours total for this. 85 hours in the field and 15 in meetings with a profesora. now ON TOP of this. we are being REQUIRED to do 50 hours of volunteering (service). going into this, we knew about the internship, HOWEVER, not one person had ANY idea about this MANDATORY service we have to do here. it was totally SPRUNG on us during orientation the other day. the least they could have done is respect us and provide us with this information before we agree to the program, at least before we leave the country. several emails have been written and sent but we're waiting to hear back from Gene when she receives the information.


service is a great idea yes. yes it will probably get us accustomed to spain in different ways, be a good experience, and help us with our spanish BUT it has more negatives than positives. i am positive that i could negate/contradict every positive argument in favor of doing 50 of service.

1. it is taking time away from us being able to spend time with our host families, which would help us with our spanish during conversation...the only conversation i will be having with them is during meals
2. i understand we shouldn't be sitting at home doing nothing or on the internet but our internships are going to provide us with plenty to do. i will have no free time and will be constantly on the run and not be able to be fully present to la vida de Espana because i will be run down, tired, exhausted, and over worked. your brain needs rest in order to function and take things in. basic knowledge.
3. i know traveling is probs not high on the list of the people making the decisions, but we're in Europe, we wanna travel around Spain and enjoy the culture without all this pressure to be places at every second of the day and to embrace the Spanish life. this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to be in Europe for this long, so we minus well enjoy it while we are here. we are going to classes, working hard with our spanish...we want to be able to hang out with our new spanish-speaking friends that we've made. so much for ANY type of social life.
4. school already requires service for the honors program that i'm in and i DO do a lot of service and am VERY involved when i'm at school. i like to be involved. but seriously, we're studying abroad. give us a break. yeah, it'll look good, but don't forget, we DO have an INTERNSHIP TOO which requires a boat load of hours.
5. no other study abroad program with school requires an internship or volunteering. they are getting the full experience, being free to enjoy the culture and explore the city and country in which they are studying.
6. like i said, service is good. but we don't always have to do in abroad or in other states, there is plenty so close to us that is not addressed or need more help.
7. service is good yes, so provide us with options and make it available for us for those who would like to volunteer to choose to do it. but don't make it mandatory and at that with SO many hours.
8. mandatory volunteer service is an oxymoron. i bet you could look in any dictionary and find a definition similar to the one i found. to volunteer: a person whose actions are not founded on any legal obligation so to act. volunteering is a choice, in some legal cases mandatory, but that's because you skrewed up so deal with the consequences. we haven't done anything wrong. we are doing so much to begin with, let us have a life and time to experience the Spanish culture

what is the point of studying abroad. ask yourself what is the best way to get all you can out of the experience. if you were in our shoes, what do you think would be most beneficial...honestly.