It all started back in 1988 when I was born on an island in Alaska and named after a make-up company. 17 years later, in 2006, I moved down to the small town of Clarkston, Washington all by myself where I graduated high school. I jumped straight into the college thing up the road at WSU in Pullman with big plans of studying electrical engineering, graduating and making the big bucks doing the engineering thing. That all changed when I decided engineering wasn't for me and I changed my major some 4 or 5 times over the course of a couple years.
During the Spring semester of my sophomore year, I decided to study abroad in Sevilla, Spain just for a change of pace and to complete some general degree requirements while attempting to learn Spanish. Like many people, I ended up falling in love with life in Andalucía. I extended my stay through the summer and upon returning to the States, I knew I had to go back.
After a long, painful search for jobs or other means of returning with a visa, I found the Auxiliares de Conversación program through the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencias: a job where native speakers are sent to work at bilingual schools to assist in teaching and language learning. I ended up getting the job at a high school in Cartaya, got my visa, got my tarjeta de residencia, and spent two wonderful, though roller coaster-y years, down in the deep South of Huelva province. As a side effect of my job there I also learned I really enjoy teaching.
In June 2012, I returned to the US after making one of the hardest decisions of my life. There were a million reasons I wanted to stay in Spain, but four horribly strong points eventually made me buy my plane ticket to start a new chapter of my life in America:
1. Spain's scary economic situation
2. I have one year left to finish my BA and online school and Coty do not mesh well
3. The idea of having to be an extranjera/guiri/foreigner for the rest of my life is a turn off
4. I don't want to live 9-10 time zones away from my family and close friends who have known me forever, especially in case anyone falls ill or gets married again.
So, this year I'll be finishing my bachelor's in Spanish and math at Western Washington University in Bellingham. Afterwards there are several possibilities, but for now I'll just have to see what surprises this year brings along with it...
1. Spain's scary economic situation
2. I have one year left to finish my BA and online school and Coty do not mesh well
3. The idea of having to be an extranjera/guiri/foreigner for the rest of my life is a turn off
4. I don't want to live 9-10 time zones away from my family and close friends who have known me forever, especially in case anyone falls ill or gets married again.
So, this year I'll be finishing my bachelor's in Spanish and math at Western Washington University in Bellingham. Afterwards there are several possibilities, but for now I'll just have to see what surprises this year brings along with it...
