A Long Way From Home

Every fall and spring, thousands of American college students head across the ocean for a study-abroad semester with visions of side trips to Morocco, naps in the Spanish sun, perfectly pulled shots of Italian espresso, underground clubs in Berlin, and – somewhere in between – the possibility of romance. The fantasy is fed by cheap weekend travel and the thrill of few restrictions on their time.

News flash – mental health problems don’t go away on study abroad

The well-documented mental health challenges of college students are often heightened during a semester abroad. Cultural shock and homesickness are the most common first symptoms Stress, anxiety, and sleep problems exacerbate those. “Limitations, such as language barriers, an unfamiliar mental health system, and misinformation, make it more difficult for international students to seek help,” wrote the authors of “The Mental Health Challenges of Studying Abroad.”

Those great expectations for travel, adventure, and fun, often fall short, says Talia Mandel, the NYU Madrid on-campus counselor. At NYU Madrid. about 20-25% of students seek therapy services each semester abroad – about 70 of the 300 students “For most people, it's not the best experience in the world. In fact, there are more difficulties here,” she says Many students head to their new campus without knowing a single person or speaking the local language. Within just a week of arrival, friend groups have formed, and social pressures begin. “The same things come up that you experience at home and you don’t have your coping tools. You don’t have your people,,” says Mandel. “While studying abroad can feel like a vacation, it isn’t. “No emotion lasts for four months and nor does any vacation last for four months,” she said.

Mikayla Gorelin, a junior at NYU studying Cinema Studies, struggled with being far from family and friends for the first time. Gorelin noticed bouts of extreme homesickness within the first few weeks of arriving in Madrid. In New York, her family was just a train ride away in New Jersey. “It was my first time actually living alone,” she said. She stayed up late to connect with friends who were six hours behind her in New York, worsening her homesickness with a lack of sleep. “It took me a while to realize that’s not my life right now and I had to step away because it was just hurting me more,” said Gorelin.

  It took a month to adjust but she slowly grew more comfortable venturing out alone, going to parks like Retiro and even the local movie theater. “Just to feel that sense of independence and doing that in a different country made me realize I could do this.” Doing so not only helped her mental health and homesickness but encouraged her to experience Madrid as a global city.

In an effort to help students experience the city as locals, not tourists, NYU Director James Fernandez helped create several courses where exploring the city is part of the syllabus. In “Art Before/Beyond/Without Museums,” designed by artist and arts educator Dr. Sara Torrres Vega, students visit art that is flourishing outside of museums and other institutions. Instead, they visit auction houses, restoration departments for La Reina Sofia, and local Spanish artist warehouses. “Get out into the city and find things. Learn through your senses that you’re in Madrid,” Fernandez said.

Students who joined Art Without Museums have found it helpful to their college experience. The second half of the class was about creating art themselves on the second-floor studio at NYU Madrid. Lucy Gagne, a junior at Gallatin, created screen prints of her friends for the class that she was able to continue in other creative endeavors, like the on-campus magazine. “I’ve been able to be heard and seen through my art here,” she said.

“Madrid Stories,” another course that Fernandez developed, was designed by Emmy and Goya-winning filmmakers Almudena Carracedoa and Robert Bahar. It’s a documentary-making class that encourages students to spend their downtime on weekends staying in Madrid instead of heading off to other locales. Ryan Wasserman, a junior at Tisch, enrolled in Madrid Stories to create his first documentary. He worked with two other students on the project, focusing on a statue of Federico García Lorca located in La Plaza de Santa Ana, completing seven different shoots on-site, filming, recording audio, and later editing the footage in Adobe Premier Pro. “Being really focused in one plaza has allowed me to take a chunk of Madrid and feel like it’s a part of me like it’s in my hands,” he said. He hopes that it will become a timeless souvenir. “It’s helped me feel like I have a place here in Madrid and that I’ve made a mark.”

Wasserman also found that being committed to his film helped slow down the pressures that come from traveling and helped settle him into a routine in Madrid. “There’s a certain manic pace to what I see a lot of students doing that’s not healthy: I’m in Europe, I need to do this, I must do this, and I must be happy,” says Fernandez. However, through classes that encourage an experience of the city, students have been able to find plazas in Sol, local Spanish warehouses, and the best spots to picnic at Retiro. Exploring new areas has helped ground them on study abroad. “Being a part of these art collectives, like the Prado class, has made me experience new places in Madrid that I wouldn’t have seen otherwise. It’s encouraged me to create and live without fear,” Gagne said.