Through Cultural Homestay International, I spent the summer between high school and college living with a host family outside Seville, Spain, immersing myself in the Spanish language and tutoring my seven-year-old host brother in English.
Living with a host family pushed me out of my comfort zone and challenged my communication skills like never before. I made plenty of embarrassing mistakes--for example, when introduced to the family's dog, I misheard her real name ("Goya") and called her "Olla" (which translates to "saucepot") for two weeks. The chance to observe and integrate into the family's daily life also opened my eyes to subtle cultural differences. Each day taught me something new and exciting, and the challenges I faced--from going on a multi-day mountain backpacking adventure completely unprepared with my host dad to public transport mishaps--made me more and more curious about cross-cultural learning and motivated me to study abroad as much as possible in college.
When I arrived at Kent State University as a freshman, I had the opportunity to travel to Israel and Palestine with the Hillel Jewish student center to learn about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through guest speakers and touring. This trip marked a huge milestone in my personal life, as the friends I made and the new ideas I was exposed to were truly transformative.
In the summer of 2019, I studied abroad for one month each in Prague, Czech Republic and Guácimo, Costa Rica. In Prague, I received a scholarship for assisting with events for university administrators and donors to visit KSU's partner university, where I took a class in international law.
