I’m just 4 days away from my flight to Madrid, and I’ve never felt so giddy and so nervous simultaneously. I chose this study abroad to get loads of classes out of the way for my Spanish major and to really immerse myself in a language that I want to use in the everyday tasks of my career. With my ultimate goal to be a speech language pathologist to English language learners, I felt like it was my duty to put my all into the language of the children I hope to one day impact. All this to say, I am absolutely bouncing off the walls. Going to Spain for study abroad is something I’ve been talking to everyone about for months, the words just spilling out of my mouth, but now it’s really happening. My clothes are packed, my Delta app shows just two days before I can check in, and I just was able to access the website for the Universidad Nebrija. I’ll be taking four Spanish classes while I’m in Madrid, and all of these are cornerstone courses to my future performance in other classes. Being from Florida, as I walk around, I’ve been picking up tidbits and pieces of people’s conversations in the language I so desperately want to become more natural to me, and I’m getting there- but I’ve also still got a long way to go. I’m so excited to be jumping out of my comfort zone in terms of my academic setting and so thrilled to add yet another country to my visited list, but most of all, I am anxious to see how incredibly life changing this experience will be for me. Fingers crossed I will touch down in Tampa on July 31st not only more well versed in the Spanish language, but more well versed in an entirely new culture as well! More updates to come.
