I can still remember the moment I
discovered that spark deep within me that ignited a passion for travel. I was
young and naive, typing the words “study abroad” into my sister’s iPod touch. I
found a travel blog. One blog turned into many as my hungry eyes read of
adventures of exchanged students. I had always known that other cultures and
ways of life had existed in far off lands, delicious and different, but I never
knew that they were so attainable.
Fast forward seven years—half a
year of which was spent soaking up every possible bit of language and culture
in Costa Rica—and I’m just as thirsty as that first moment. Maps cover my
cinder block walls and my Netflix is cued with every possible travel show. I
have my eyes set on something shining on the horizon—Spain. Those six months I spent in Costa Rica, chaotic and
enlightening, left me with a passion for the Spanish language and the culture
that surrounds it. It only took me a few weeks with my major in Global Studies
and minor in Spanish to realize that I wanted to do this stuff forever. So, with my shiny new Global
Studies-Spanish double major in tow, I stand to gain a lot from this experience
abroad.
I never want to stop learning about
this beautiful culture and many others, and the way I see it, completely
immersing yourself in a culture is the best way to learn. The list of what I
have to gain from this impending experience is miles long: a new family, a new
way to communicate, a new appreciation of things once seen as strange and
foreign, a new home, and a new perspective of our terrifyingly huge but
surprisingly small world. Not to mention the stories. If I could live out my
life telling old stories, collecting new ones, and searching for a new set of
ears to release this wealth of experiences upon, I would be the happiest girl
in the world.
Once I return home I don’t expect
to be any less thirsty for adventure. I want to keep learning about this beautiful world and
the people in it, and then I want to teach people what I have learned. I want
to travel and tell stories. I’m not sure if there is a specific job that fits
this description, but I do know that someday when I’m teaching English in Korea
or working for a non-profit in Ghana the experiences I’ve gained from studying
abroad will stick with me. Studying abroad in Spain won’t just last those four
months; it will influence the rest of my life.
For now, I am going to focus on
preparing for my next adventure.
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| Me with my T-shirt quilt, featuring the Spain themed shirt I designed for our Spanish Honors Society. |
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| Me and my Costa Rican family on the peak of Mount Chirripó in 2014. |
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| A photo I took during Copa Mundial in San Jose. |
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| My Tica school friends. |
