¡Playas, Castillos y Mariscos!

As summer is approaching, I’m getting ready to pack my bags as well as desperately trying to figure out last minute details for my trip. This summer, I’m going to be studying abroad in Alicante, Spain as part of a Spanish Language Intensive Program. It’ll be my first time to ever travel anywhere on my own, without my family. Being a junior at Brooklyn Tech this year has been incredibly stressful, and oftentimes, I feel like I’ve lost an important part of myself in a competitive environment filled with worrying about college essays and obtaining 4.0 GPAs. I see this study abroad trip as a way to learn more about the Spanish culture and about myself, hopefully, discovering a new hobby or meeting new lifelong friends. Even though there are going to be a lot of unfamiliar aspects of this trip that I will have to face, I’m not going to let any of that get in my way of exploring and trying new things.

Some of the highlights of this trip that I’m going to be looking forward to include eating fresh seafood (as Alicante is right along the coast!), visiting important historical sites, including the Santa Bárbara Castle, and interacting with my host family and the local community. For four weeks, I’m going to be able to give myself a chance to relax, improve my Spanish language abilities, and rejuvenate myself so that I can face senior year with full force!

Santa Bárbara Castle

- Tracy Jiang