My study abroad experience was momentous for me. I was a little nervous before leaving about how it was going to go since I wasn't super confident about my Spanish, but I was paired with the best host I could've asked for and met some amazing friends. I could only speak Spanish at home, and I mostly spoke Spanish out and about. This had a very positive and big impact on my confidence to speak Spanish, as I have noticed when coming back to the United States. I used to be scared of ordering at restaurants in Spanish or talking to someone in Spanish because I thought my skills wouldn't be good enough to communicate, but after being in an environment where I could only speak it made it exponentially easier. On top of that, I now have a family to come to if I ever wanted to come back to Spain, and I have made tons of friends from all across the U.S.

Sophie studied at the University of Deusto in Bilbao, Spain. She majored in Marketing and Minored in Spanish.