It was a no brainer for me— Spain it was. I packed my bags and headed to Madrid with my friend. We lived with a host mom during our semester. A host mom/family is a group of people or a person that lets you live with them while you study abroad so you can get the full cultural experience of the country you are living in. My host mom did not speak English, which gave me great practice in speaking Spanish. I traveled all over Europe during my semester and fell in love with traveling, language-learning and cross-cultural exchange. It is so cool to learn about the differences among cultures and how much we can learn from others and their traditions. I knew that I wanted to return to Europe one day, but I had no idea how.
My junior year of college I went to a meeting about post-graduation opportunities for students. One of them was called a Fulbright scholarship. My college told me it was extremely competitive but that if I got it I could end up teaching English in another country for a year. SoI worked hard on my application (sixteen drafts of each essay) and was told in May of 2017 that I would be moving to Spain in September. I was shocked, scared, and so excited to start my journey.
And....here I am! I am at the end of my seventh month in Spain and I couldn't be more happy with my decision. I work Monday through Thursday teaching English classes in schools outside of Oviedo (mainly in the mountains). I can teach about anything I want. I usually teach about things we do in the U.S.A. because most students want to learn all they can about American life. I have a great relationship with my students and I know I am going to be so sad to leave them in June.
