As a student in the Summerfuel Cultural and Language Immersion Homestay Study Abroad Program in Conil, Spain, I had the fortunate experience of spending three weeks in a land of unfamiliar territory with students from across the United States.  At 17 years old, I was living with a family I had never met before that did not speak any English. The collaboration opportunities and learning to deal with people different than myself were endless. I first flew to New York to meet up with my group before flying on to Spain. We had about 20 people in our group and we came from various locations across the United States with one common goal…we all wanted to go on a Spanish adventure. Beyond that fact, we had to learn about one another; learn our new boundaries and rules; figure out how to best interact with others to achieve optimal results for ourselves as well as the greater group so that we could all had a positive experience. It was necessary for lots of give and take, patience, and learning how to respect and learn from other people’s viewpoints.

This opportunity proved to be a very rewarding experience in so many ways. I was both a student as well as a leader and teacher and I was constantly thrown into new opportunities and challenges with collaboration opportunities in the classroom, on our excursions, with my host family, and with locals when I was on my own. The Honors and Scholars Program at The Ohio State University is a continuation of what I experienced in Spain because they are represented by the 5 pillars- G.O.A.L.S. The Leadership Development, Global Awareness, and Academic Enrichment I obtained while abroad was invaluable. As a student, I was learning the language and culture of another country as well as learning the rhythm of living with a completely different family. At home in the United States, I had one younger brother who was 16 and not very social. In Spain, I now had 3 younger, rambunctious brothers all under the age of 10 that thrived on attention and activity. Life in my Spanish home had different hours. We woke up later in the morning, ate little for breakfast except a piece of bread, and had large lunches followed by siestas and very late dinners sometimes at 9 or 10pm and then went out afterwards. It was much different than my schedule back at home. It took constant checking in with my teachers and host family to understand what was appropriate in order to meet expectations. My host parents were wonderful and I wanted to try to please them. It took frequent collaboration to help them with simple tasks around the house like helping with meals and entertaining the boys. Due to the language barriers, we were forced to be creative with our communication using broken grammar, hand signals, and pointing. I learned how to cook Spanish dinners with my host mom and we attempted fun activities together like playing chess and I taught them to play some card games that I played with my own family back in the United States. The global perspective I gained while in Spain and living my day-to-day life with my host family was eye-opening. As a high school student, I was a role model for the boys and always tried to be cognizant of my impact on their young minds. I knew I was representing the United States and wanted to be a positive representative to all that I met.