¡Hola! Me llamo Rachel McLaughlin. (Hello! My name is Rachel McLaughlin.) I am a 19-year-old college sophomore from Taunton, Massachusetts. My hometown is less than an hour's drive from both Boston and Providence, but when it came time to choose a college, I went even farther! I study English literature and neuroscience at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. I love to play card games with my friends and spend lots of time in the library. I even worked in a library in high school! One of my favorite book series growing up was Magic Treehouse. Have you read any of them?
Because I love reading and language so much, I decided I wanted to study how they work in the brain. Right now, I am still learning the basics, but a cool fact is that the left side of your brain controls the right side of your body! That means that when you wave hello with your right hand, it is actually controlled by the left half of your brain.
In Barcelona, Spain, I am studying Spanish—not just speaking, however, but also Spanish literature and culture. I am going to be living with a host family as I explore a whole new country. I hope you are as excited as I am! Let's go on an adventure together!