Ben Winkler-McCue (Spain, 2001-02)

Ben Winkler-McCue carefully considered his options for finding a coastal university in a Spanish speaking country (having spent a year studying in Costa Rica), where he could study toward his double major in Ecology, Behavior and Evolution, and Spanish Studies – while continuing his passion for surfing. At the Universidad de Cantabria in Santander he has found the courses he wanted and the ocean three blocks from the apartment he shares with international students. He put his work experience at a Santa Cruz Deli to good use recently when he helped serve a birthday feast in Basque country. “Surrounded by French Basques who didn’t speak a lick of English, I never felt out of place.”