Living abroad really sheds light on the countless things that we take for granted on a regular basis back in the United States. For example, I have always known that I am incredibly lucky to attend a school like TCU, but I definitely did not realize just how lucky until I was introduced to Universidad Pablo de Olavide in Sevilla, Spain. Locally, Universidad Pablo de Olavide is abbreviated UPO, but it is affectionately referred to as PUPO by former TCU students. Upon arrival at the campus, my first impression was that it looked like something straight out of The Hunger Games’s District 12: gray concrete buildings, cracked sidewalks, and a tall watchtower with a design on top bearing a striking resemblance to a mockingjay. My friends and I joked that if we happened to get lost, we could just use Katniss’s four note whistle to find each other.
At orientation, the president of the university welcomed all the international students and then instantly went on to assure us that contrary to some rumors, UPO was never used as a prison or an insane asylum. With a disclaimer like that, we knew we were in for a real treat. The rest of the orientation provided us with information about the extensive list of options for intramural sports (3 on 3 futból, 5 on 5 futbót, or co-ed futból) and insider tips like carrying travel tissues in your purse or wallet because the bathrooms are constantly running out of toilet paper.
Call me high maintenance, but the toilet paper thing is definitely going to take some getting used to. The funny thing is that the more we talk with locals who attend the university or other international students from anywhere except the United States, the more we realize that conditions at UPO are the norm or even better than the norm. While I was chatting with my German friend Freddy on the metro to school one day, he gushed about how excited he was to attend a “nice” school like UPO with a real campus. I didn’t want to come across as a bratty American, but I mentioned that there are many universities in the United States that are even nicer. He was so curious to know if we have as many opportunities to play sports at our universities in America. I chuckled to myself (more than three forms of intramural futbol?) and responded with a "yes, absolutely." The next day my roommate and I ate lunch at school with some of our new Spanish friends.
We sat in the UPO equivalent of a student union, which was really just a hallway set up with tables and folding chairs. We pulled up a picture of TCU’s campus on the Internet and the girls were speechless. They live in one of the most idyllic cities in Europe, and yet they thought a picture of our school was the most beautiful thing they had ever seen. That’s when the revelation of how lucky we are really set in. Now, I’ve been pretty hard on good old UPO. The truth is that what UPO lacks in beauty, it makes up for with great professors who genuinely love their jobs.
The point is that on days when you’re trudging around campus dreading class or regretting not staying in bed all together, take the opportunity to look up and really appreciate the beauty of the manicured lawns, fresh flowers, ivy covered walls, and matching brick buildings. I’m obviously biased towards TCU, but there are beautiful college campuses all across America. We should feel so lucky that awe-inspiring learning institutions are so prevalent in our culture...and, perhaps more importantly, that toilet paper is generally provided and continually replenished.
