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[title]It’s not just about earning credits at a foreign university. The experience of doing an exchange program abroad is the perfect opportunity to “open your mind,” make friends from the other side of the world, discover new cultures, adopt new habits into your daily routine—and even add new favorite dishes to your menu. According to the students themselves, spending a semester in another country can feel like “years” of condensed learning.
It’s something like an “intensive master’s degree in adulthood,” where, beyond the academic upgrade, there’s also a leap in everyday life skills—those that have more to do with handling unexpected situations and making 100% independent decisions: from going to the hospital alone, to paying rent every month, or planning a low-cost trip across Europe.
Time Out spoke with four students from the University of Business and Social Sciences (UCES) who took the leap and crossed the Atlantic to tell their stories.
Gianluca: From a Crush on Madrid to Landing in Cuenca
For Gianluca Sorrentini, a Social Communication student at UCES, the decision was spontaneous: a one-day stopover in Madrid during a trip last year was enough for him to fall in love with the Spanish capital and start thinking about applying for an exchange program.
“As soon as I got back to Argentina, I sent in the application form and the required documents to start the process,” he explains. “It was a two-month wait—from October to December—until I got an email saying I already had a reserved spot.” Although his first two choices were Madrid or Toledo, he finally landed in Cuenca, at the University of Castilla-La Mancha, to continue his Journalism degree. Now, almost a month into the experience, Gianluca says he’s “happy.”
Life in this city—famous for its hanging houses and a historic center declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site—seems perfectly designed for student exchange. The residence where he stays, with full board, is only a twelve-minute walk from the university campus. And that comfort, says Gianluca, allows him to focus on the best part of the experience: the social life.
He’s only been in Cuenca a short time, but he says he already feels part of the local culture and that there’s such a wide variety of activities that there’s “no time to get bored.” The key, he explains, is that everyone’s on the same wavelength. “Plus, since there are no classes on Fridays, every week there’s a ‘Thursday university night,’ with tons of options for going out. And my residence is ideally located, just five blocks from the center and the old town.”
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Something still on his to-do list, he admits, is trying the famous manchego cheese of the region. “But the local food in general is excellent—even the wines, I tried one and really liked it.” Gianluca adds that seafood dishes are also typical, and “the paella is amazing.”
Julia: Coming of Age in Valencia
Julia López Cortés Díaz traveled to Valencia to study Business Management, and for her, the experience was a real-life lesson. That’s how the UCES student from Santa Fe Province sums it up after studying at the University of Valencia, a large public institution with the sprawling Los Naranjos campus that, in addition to academic excellence, offered sports like tennis, basketball, and a fully equipped gym at an “affordable” rate.
Julia says she felt comfortable right from the start of her exchange program. Even though the classrooms were huge—with more than 50 students, unlike UCES’s Santa Fe campus—the academic dynamic felt very similar, and both she and her classmates felt supported by their professors. A fun fact, she adds, is that “there are no midterms there, only multiple-choice finals, and wrong answers actually deduct points.”
What did she bring back to Argentina? No object or souvenir took up as much space in her luggage as the personal growth she experienced: “I grew up so much,” she says. Julia lived in a shared apartment with another Argentine student and two Spanish girls, and she had to learn to do everything on her own—from cooking, paying rent, washing clothes and dishes, to going to the hospital by herself. “I got really sick and had to go to three hospitals alone, talk to doctors, handle the paperwork, and figure everything out myself,” she recalls.
"I made so many friends from different cultures—Italians, Spaniards, and people from other countries too"
The experience also pushed her to break out of her routine and open up socially. “I made so many friends from different cultures—Italians, Spaniards, and people from other countries too,” she says. And she took advantage of Europe’s proximity between borders to travel extensively. “Lots of low-cost trips, just with a backpack and passport in hand. It was amazing,” she smiles.
Although her academic exchange ended last May, Julia admits that, thrilled by her travels and two volunteer programs she did in Spain and Portugal, she postponed her return to Argentina until August. “Of course, there were moments when I missed my family—especially the Sunday asado. But whenever someone asks me about the exchange, I always say it’s 100% worth it. I recommend it without hesitation—it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
"Whenever someone asks me about the exchange program, I always say it’s totally worth it"
Ilan: A Future Professional in Madrid
Ilan Jaraz, a Marketing student at UCES, fulfilled his dream of studying abroad in Madrid before graduating. For him, the experience at Camilo José Cela University was doubly enriching—both academically and socially. And with that statement, his story aligns with the rest of the students interviewed by Time Out. They all agree on one thing: the personal growth that the trip gave them.
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“The truth is, I didn’t know Europe, and I had the chance to live there and experience the culture day by day—it was incredible. I visited museums, tried local food, went to talks and exhibitions,” Ilan says. “I made new friends and met people from all over the world. I arrived in Madrid in January and returned in June this year. Those six months felt like years of learning.”
"It was six months that felt like years of learning"
A key element in his training, he notes, was exposure to technological tools. He learned about the advanced use of ChatGPT, something that, he says, is much more developed in Europe. “I was lucky to have excellent professors who shared perspectives I hadn’t considered before. It was an intense journey, and I recommend it to everyone. I’m sure everything I learned will serve me both professionally and personally,” he concludes.
"I’m sure that everything I learned will serve me both professionally and personally"
The Influence of Spanish Affair and the Joy of Seville
Tomás Weihmuller, 26, studies Public and Institutional Relations at UCES. He began his exchange program last year, seeking to combine professional growth with the experience of travel. Although he considered several countries, his main interest was Spain—mainly because of the language—and his top choice was the University of Seville, which ultimately became his destination.
Why Seville? “I watched a movie called Spanish Affair (Ocho apellidos vascos), and it really influenced me,” he laughs. “It captures Andalusian culture really well—the joyful, sociable lifestyle of southern Spain, which is actually very similar to us Argentines. It contrasts it with Basque culture, which is much more reserved.”
The exchange experience was, as in every case, extremely positive and enriching—with the added bonus that he shared it with his girlfriend, who was in Seville doing a master’s program. Tomás says his time in Europe “really opened his mind,” thanks to meeting people from other countries, discovering different traditions, and encountering diverse ways of thinking. “I lived with Spaniards and Italians, and a few Latin Americans—except for the Uruguayan community, which was quite large. I also had German and Polish classmates, and that’s when you realize cultural clashes are real, but that’s what makes it so enriching.”
When it comes to food, Tomás already knew what to expect from his previous trips to Europe. “I love tortilla de patatas, jamón ibérico, and paella,” he says. “And since we had an Italian neighbor, we learned a lot about pasta too.” In addition to traveling through southern Spain, he also crossed over to Morocco, in Africa, where he says he experienced a major culture shock due to the predominance of Muslim traditions. “What I love most about traveling is being exposed to other realities, customs, and ways of life,” he emphasizes. Even in sports: “We took part in a soccer tournament where the cultural differences were crystal clear. South Americans play every ball as if it were the last one—with a passion Europeans don’t have.”
Why a Student Exchange Is Worth It
Regardless of the destination, the testimonies of UCES students share one common point: studying abroad transforms the way you learn, connect, and see the world. Student exchange not only enhances your academic and professional profile—it also teaches you to be more independent, adaptable, and open-minded. An experience that, as they all say, is “100% worth it.”