Talofa Lava! 'O lo'u Ignoa o' Alyssa! Hello! My name is Alyssa!
I am currently in Apia, Samoa, studying social and environmental change on the Polynesian islands. I am a 21-year-old student from Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania where I study environmental and computer science. Are you wondering how I wound up on this remote island? Well, I have always been very interested in Samoan culture and the biodiversity of plants and animals in the Pacific region. In fact, part of this inspiration came from the very popular Disney movie "Moana!" For the majority of my program abroad, I have been staying with my homestay family near the city of Apia in a modernized village known as Lotopa. I had been living with another student named Lexie who also attends Gettysburg College. My biological family in America only consists of four people: me, my dad, my mom and my older sister, Aida. However, I have many homestay family members here with my Samoan family because large families are seen as a symbol of a happy, healthy life. My host family is scattered throughout the Pacific islands, as most families in Samoa are. We have family members in Samoa, New Zealand and even Australia! I am very interested in studying climate change, which is exactly why I decided to come on this study abroad program.
