By Terra Alvarez (UC Santa Cruz)

Growing up in East Los Angeles, traveling beyond Mexico was considered a dream. For most people around me, Mexico was the furthest place our families’ stories reached. Anything beyond that felt distant, expensive, and unrealistic.

Our lives were rooted in survival, in work, in making it to the next day. International travel belonged to people on TV or in books, until I made up my mind to travel across seas myself. I made this decision up for myself at the ripe age of 9, telling my friends they could come with me when we became big kids.

The Hustle Before the Journey

Before leaving to study abroad in Spain, I worked three jobs at cafés, McDonald’s, and anywhere that would take me while maintaining a full course load. I saved every dollar I could, skipped outings, and learned how to stretch a paycheck.

There were days when exhaustion sat heavy in my chest, when I stressed myself so much I questioned the reality of studying abroad. But I was adamant about seeing the world. Despite financial hardship and constant uncertainty, I just knew everything was going to work out in the end.

Confronting History Full Circle

When I finally arrived in Spain, I carried more than a suitcase. I carried my family’s history, my community, and the weight of being somewhere I was never expected to be.

Walking through Spanish streets, I couldn’t help but think about my colonial ancestors and how their decisions centuries ago reshaped my culture, my language, my last name, and even the reason I was standing there at all.

There was something heavy and powerful about that realization. Reflecting back, I realized I am the first person—besides my ancestral past—to have visited Spain in all this time. That truth sat with me every day. I wasn’t just visiting a country—I was confronting history, full circle, in my own body.

Learning to Live Deliberately

My days in Spain went by quickly, despite living there for five months. Time moved in a strange way. My days always felt like they were on fast forward. I could never get enough time in the sun—admiring the clouds, listening to the hum of the city, watching people simply be people.

Spaniards linger. They sit for hours at cafés, talk slowly, laugh loudly, and live deliberately. Time looks slow, almost generous. But for me, it slipped through my fingers.

Every sunset felt like a reminder that this chapter had an end date. I tried to memorize the warmth of the sun on my face, the sound of footsteps echoing on old stone streets, and the way the sky turned pink and gold in the evenings. I wanted to hold onto it all, but life doesn’t pause just because you ask it to.

Spain taught me that beauty can exist alongside urgency—that you can love a place deeply even while knowing you’ll have to leave it.

Seeing Home in a New Light

Living abroad also made me think differently about where I come from. East LA shaped me in ways I only fully understood once I was far from it. My resilience, my work ethic, my ability to adapt—those didn’t come from privilege. They came from necessity, from watching my community survive and still find joy.

Spain didn’t change who I was—it reflected me back to myself in a new light.

Carrying the Experience Forward

I’ve learned to value every day. Not in a cliché way, but in a grounded, intentional way. I’ve learned that dreams are fragile, but they are also powerful.

I learned that time is uneven, personal, and deeply political. Being present is an act of gratitude. And most importantly, I’ve learned that someone from East LA (someone like me) belongs anywhere they dare to imagine themselves.

Today, I’m back at UC Santa Cruz studying Education and Latino Studies, readjusting to life after study abroad with a deeper appreciation for time, my friends, and my community. Studying abroad deepened my commitment to education and advocacy for marginalized students. Looking ahead, I am considering traveling to Thailand to intern with organizations that support marginalized students and continue learning internationally.

Most of all, I carry forward the mindset I learned across the ocean: slowing down, staying present, and prioritizing the relationships that matter most.

Learn more about making your study abroad dreams a reality:

• Ricardo Martinez (UC Davis) shares what it’s like to study abroad as a first-generation college student.
• Anthony Meza-Martinez, Ariana Siordia, and Lillian Jiang (UC Berkeley) share practical strategies to budget, stretch financial aid, and cut costs across Europe and Asia.
• Ekaterina Griffin (UC San Diego) details how securing multiple scholarships helped her fund a full year in the Netherlands and honor her mother’s memory.