Introducing Myself!
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Hello everyone, and welcome to my blog!
Although I have not yet left to teach abroad in Madrid, Spain, I still wanted to introduce myself to potential readers!
My name is Kathryn Moyer, but most people call me Kate! Following my graduation from Penn State this past May of 2022, I have been working and applying to law school while I prepare to go abroad! At Penn State, I received a degree in International Affairs, with a specific focus in both human rights and international economics, as well as a degree in Spanish. My educational focus at Penn State concerned the exchange of goods and services in the international economy. My passion, however, is whether or not, or how, access to education has shaped information sharing and thus, the global economy.
As someone who never had the opportunity to pursue a semester abroad due to COVID restrictions, my passion for knowledge and cultural exchange still left me eager to discover a program that would allow me to do so. Despite my degree in Spanish, I feel this term with CIEE will better help me achieve my goals of fluency and cultural understanding that a classroom setting can only satisfy to an extent. I hope to not only educate about the mechanics of the English language, but the numerous cultural and morpho-syntactic influences that oil the wheels to drive the language further!
If I am being completely transparent, outside of fluency, another goal I hope to accomplish is simply proving to myself that I am capable of living and working alone outside of the United States. I believe it is important that I am completely honest while writing these blog posts because eventually, other people will be in the same position I am and seeking the same gaps of information that I had. I aspire to fill some of those gaps during my time as a CIEE blogger. More importantly, I aspire to work against the common feeling of “imposter syndrome” in my blog posts, by truly advocating that if I can do it, anyone can do it. From observation, many people who apply to this program are 1-4 years post grad or currently completing their final semester as a college student, and may feel themselves in a bit of a limbo trying to navigate life after leaving the lifestyle of higher education. I know that I did, and still do. Although I hope to accommodate the inquiry of all readers who visit my page, I write with this demographic in mind, because I am a part of that demographic, and want my readers to know that any reservation they may have is completely normal, and expected!
I realize my goals may sound obtuse, but I do that so I do not limit myself in terms of exploring life abroad and thus, writing about it. I do not want to narrow the focus of my blog to simple dynamics such as visas, insurance, transportation, and other formal matters in general. I want to write about all of these topics and more. I want to give the hard truths of my experience, if any, in tandem with the amazing ones. So, I’ll start with this one:
This entire process has made me extremely nervous — mostly because it is so easy that I always feel I must be forgetting something!
The hardest part of this process so far has been convincing myself I can do it alone (or maybe packing less than 8 suitcases). Hopefully, when I’m there, the hardest thing I’ll have to worry about is catching the metro on time!
I hope you guys stick with me, and my blog, to find out! Hasta luego!
-Kate