WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE CLASS WHILE ABROAD, AND WHY?
My favorite class abroad was Intro to Art and Architecture in Sevilla with Laura Tinajero. I seriously can’t hype her up enough. She’s a certified tour guide and a grad student in Women’s History, so she knew everything about the city. She taught us stuff even locals didn’t know, like how women held leadership roles that were usually run by men, and she’d call them “lady bosses,” which inspired me. She made me and the class feel comfortable to engage and to ask questions. We would go on little walks around Sevilla and I would name every architecture style that we learned (my friends got annoyed, but I was obsessed). I still think about that class all the time. I miss it so much.

HOW DID YOU ENGAGE WITH THE LOCAL COMMUNITY WHILE ABROAD?
Studying abroad in Sevilla, Spain as a Queer person I looked for LGBTQ+ outreach activities around town that CEA CAPA offered us. I ended up going to a few Pride events with some of my friends that I made during the program in June, and it was so inspiring to see our community being represented across the world. We met a few local college students from the University of Sevilla and even an older couple reaching 70 years old. And as what Sevillians say, “the older the person, the more they like to sit around and talk”, so we shared our experiences and stories of coming out all night long. A few of them helped me practice my Spanish, and I helped them with their English. It felt like a fever dream but it made Sevilla feel more like home.