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Being able to study abroad as an undergraduate really opens your eyes to the cultures
and the people that you get to meet. It's not just reading from a textbook.
It's actually living and experiencing the lives that people experience
in other parts of the globe. So my professional goals are to go into
medicine. I'd like to become an orthopedic surgeon
and with using Spanish I want to be able to use it both in the practice
and on mission trips, going to medical mission trips to Central and South America.
With the medical field there aren't as many interpreters
in hospitals and medical situations so it is important to know and be able to
communicate with your patients.
So with this experience, I was definitely able to build a stronger foundation in my
Spanish speaking skills.
It's important to know and understand that you know a language barrier can cause
problems and
you have to face it somehow and the best way to do it is to dive right in and learn the
language yourself.
One of the interesting things with living with
families in Spain, we had a full cultural immersion living with host families,
was talking to some of my host moms and their opinions and views on,
you know, the politics in their country based on politics in our country
and then as well as, you know, their economic status,
things that they go through their personal life. It was really a touching experience.
One of opportunities we had was we got to travel Segovia.
They have an ancient castle there and we got to tour the castle
and go through and see where, you know a king and queen, used to sit
in Spain
overlooking the countryside. It was an incredible experience and getting to
see the towns around.
Just the architecture of the castle was amazing. One of the other experiences I got
to see was an acrobatic show based around
toros or the bulls in Spain. Bullfighting is
common in Spain but this particular show was based more on skill
and being able to manage the bulls
and perform aerial skills. So it was really cool getting to see,
they're called toreros and they bascially jump over the bulls.
They show their courage and they run at them, they run around them
and it was mind blowing. So being able to go on this trip
has really kind of set me up for the future.
I know that when I'm in my professional career and I encounter a patient
that, you know, is
a Spanish-speaking patient, who doesn't know English, I know that I can
look back to this trip and use those skills I learned there
and be able to provide that patient with the care that they need, because it's really
important to take these experiences and these opportunities
and be able to put them towards, you know, the future and knowing
what these opportunities can give you.