BY: PROSPER NAAH (Ph.D. ENV. ENG. MGT) – FROM MARCH 5TH – AUGUST 4TH 2023
Uncertainty, one discovers, is an inalienable attribute of the unknown and the quest for inquest. I thank God Almighty for His travelling mercies, and for protecting the entire cohort who travelled to Spain, and the families we left behind. It’s been an eventful 5 months of cultural and educational immersion that will remain a positive part of us for a long time, if not for eternity.
When I first received my badges for this academic exchange program, I was excited at the prospect of engaging the second most spoken language and culturally diverse community in the world directly. I also relished the chance to learn and share ideas with colleagues in my would-be new environment. We departed en-masse for Spain on March 5th enroute Morocco, arriving in Andalucía after some 48 hrs.
I committed myself to a 9-credit course load, and research at the Centre for Earth Sciences, Energy and Environment (CEACTEMA), a directorate within the Department of Material, Chemical and Environmental Engineering. So running between different laboratories and lectures, I successfully completed the courses and the project just at the nick of time to return to Ghana. My final activity was a presentation of my works at CEACTEMA and a farewell to the TEP233 group.
In the end, I picked some very useful lessons in project management, learnt some technical aspects of renewable energies, and enhanced my knowledge in analytical chemistry laboratory and instrumental chemical analysis. My most resounding accomplishment during this period was the successful completion of a project on the development of a bioplastic material. Overall, my stay in Jaen was eventful, just as it was enthralling. I met some genuinely lovely people in Spain, and got the chance to grow up further as a person. I thank the University of Energy and Natural Resources, and the coordinating Team of this Mobility Program for this ambassadorial role. I would like to thank all who made this study abroad possible.
My advice to prospective mobility students: for BSc and MSc students, learn a lot of Spanish for integration and look for opportunities for advanced studies if you are interested. For PhD students, reach out to a Professor with an allied portfolio for further studies on your objectives. For summer exchange students, beware of the ultra-high ambient temperature conditions from May-August, and stay hydrated. Stay together as a group, and share ideas, misgivings and opportunities. Jaen, like most areas in Andalusia, is an indigenized community and speak predominantly Spanish. You meet one in a million English speakers. I am naturally slow at learning new languages, so my major disappointment was and still is my inability to speak Spanish as much as I could. I picked the basic terms though, and at this point I would like to say:
‘Gracias y que Dios nos bendiga a todos’.