My name is Rachel. I was born in Southern California and have lived here my whole life. I was first exposed to the Spanish language at my elementary school. Although the primary language of my family was English and the language spoken at home, I was enrolled in a dual immersion program at my elementary school. Dual immersion means that all the school subjects including math, reading, writing and science were all taught in Spanish. Even my textbooks were printed in Spanish! From a very young age, I loved learning different languages. I was also curious to learn about different cultures.
My exposure to the Spanish language and culture from when I was little inspired me to learn more about it throughout middle school, high school and even college. Now a senior at San Diego State University in San Diego, I study international business with an emphasis on Spanish and Latin America. Last year, I got the opportunity to study abroad in Cartago, Costa Rica. I chose to study here because my area of focus for my major is in Latin America and I had never been to Costa Rica before! I studied at Tecnológico de Costa Rica (TEC) alongside Costa Rican students. All my classes at the university were taught in Spanish. I lived and studied in Costa Rica for two months, and now I am back in San Diego finishing my final semester of college.
