When I started college, my major was elementary education, so I was on my way to becoming a teacher just like I had always wanted After my sophomore year of college, however, I went on a trip to Spain to study Spanish, and I realized that I loved the language, and I wanted to learn more about it. I also realized that I was very interested in the history of Spain. I had previously always thought history was boring, but after seeing and experiencing some of Spain's history, I realized that the best way to learn history is to be immersed in it and not just read about it in a book. After my Spanish trip, I added Spanish as one of my majors and started thinking about all the ways speaking Spanish could help me become a better teacher.
While in college, I also had the opportunity to travel to Costa Rica and help teach English in a small town called Carmona which is in the Guanacaste province. This was one of the most fun and rewarding experiences I have ever had. Getting to know my students and finding ways to make learning English fun for them was the best part of the experience. I learned to play soccer, tried lots of foods I had never even heard of before and got to explore some of the beauty that the country has to offer.
When I returned from Costa Rica and started my senior year at Florida Southern College, I started applying to be an English Teaching Assistant for the Fulbright program. This program seemed like the perfect opportunity to see more of the country that had made me fall in love with the Spanish language and its history. A Fulbright would also allow me to teach and to get to know students as I had in Costa Rica and to work towards becoming a fluent Spanish speaker.
