At the end of my stay, I was so sad to leave my host family because I had learned so much about their idea of family and really connected with them. That experience made me want to continue looking for other ways to live in another country.
In my Junior year, I got my next chance! I applied to study in Amsterdam, The Netherlands for a semester where I focused on Sociology and Psychology classes in a Dutch context. This adventure in some ways less intimidating because many people in the Netherlands speak English. However, it was also more intimidating because I was leaving for so much longer: five months! While in Amsterdam, I took a semester of Dutch and learned about Dutch culture. Sadly, I had to leave after only six weeks because of Covid and travel restrictions. I used Senior year to write a thesis on immigration in the US, which focused on a theory in Sociology called "Othering" and some of my secondary sources were written in Spanish. I am currently working on translating parts of it into Spanish.
After graduating college, I moved to Chicago, Illinois to work for Americorps in a school on the west side of Chicago. I led small groups in a math elective for ninth grade students for two years that complemented their main math classes. During my second year, I decided to go back to school to take premedicine courses at night (eek!!). I had decided to try to become a doctor, another daunting adventure. I spent many days at work and many nights studying. After finishing two years at school, I began my third year working in Chicago. I worked at a hospital as a patient care tech at night while attending my classes during the day. I got to do many cool things in the hospital including watching wound care, walking with patients, and taking vitals!
