After one semester at UF, Carol Movschowitz was ready to get out of Gainesville and see the world.
Advisers convinced her to at least wait until her sophomore year to study abroad, so Movschowitz applied to go to Barcelona during the spring semester of her freshman year.
“I thought: I speak Spanish, and I want to improve. I should go to Spain,” Movschowitz said.
Movschowitz was conflicted between going to Barcelona or Madrid but chose Barcelona because she felt the school, Esade, was better. Also, she said she loves the beach.
Advisers warned Movschowitz that undergraduates don’t usually go to Barcelona because of the competitive nature of the school, but she was determined.
“They basically said ‘good luck getting into that school,” Movschowitz said.
After her application was reviewed, she was accepted and became the first undergraduate student from UF to study abroad in Barcelona.
Today, Movschowitz is an ambassador for International Program Student Ambassadors (IPSA). As an ambassador, she answers questions from students who want to study abroad and speaks to classes about her experiences in Spain.
Movschowitz gets a lot of emails from students wanting to know about her experiences traveling abroad. She also helps students make decisions. The No. 1 question she gets is how she chose between Madrid and Barcelona.
Movschowitz’s experiences studying abroad were different because she did exchange, which meant she went by herself and was on her own to find a place to live, which classes to take, and how to navigate through an unknown country.
“I was able to figure out things on my own, and that’s what you need in life,” she said. “I like to be my own boss.”
Studying abroad helped Movschowitz decide on what she wanted to do after she graduates, she said. She definitely wants a job that requires a lot of travel, such as working with brands to learn about different cultures and how to apply brands to those cultures.
Movschowitz said she is ready to go abroad again, this time to Hong Kong, for the fall semester of her senior year.
“I came back [from Barcelona], and I was like ‘I’m definitely doing another study abroad for sure,'” she said. “I’m making it happen.”
If accepted, she will be attending Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, which is ranked one of the 100 best universities in the world. Movschowitz knows it will be a definite culture shock and that her classes will be difficult, but she said she’s ready for the challenge.
“That’s why I love study abroad,” she said. “I learn a lot. I grow as a person. I was able to stay in a country as an outsider. I was able to survive.
“If I was able to do that, I’m able to do it anywhere in the world.”