Hello and welcome to my blog! My name is Carley Hess and I am a sophomore at the University of Pittsburgh. I am in the College of Business Administration and am currently working towards a major in Human Resources Management. I am also working towards a Spanish minor. A little bit about me personally is that I am from Lancaster County, PA. When I am not working or studying, I enjoy spending time with friends and family. I love to travel and have done so a lot in the past, which is why I am so excited to continue with my adventures and travel to Spain for the first time. I have chosen the program Pitt in Spain, Alcalá de Henares. I have chosen this program because I am eager to improve my Spanish speaking skills and to experience the Spanish culture first hand. Language is something I am very passionate about and I knew that traveling to Spain would be a great way for me to learn and improve. I was also drawn to this program because of the opportunity to receive a host family. Having a host family will help me to form great relationships with people abroad and will help me to use Spanish as much as I can. I thought that living in this setting would be the best way to experience the Spanish culture first hand. Spain was also on the top of my list because I love Europe and wanted to experience the different countries Europe has to offer. On this trip I hope to grow personally, academically, and professionally. Personally, I believe this trip will help me to really broaden my horizons and become more culturally aware. I will get to meet different kinds of people, try different kinds of food, and see what life in a different culture is truly like. All of these things will help me to become a more worldly person and more cultured, which is so important. This trip will help me academically by improving my knowledge of the Spanish language. When returning home from Spain I hope to apply all that I have learned to my remaining Spanish courses. I believe that this trip will help me improve in my Spanish courses and in the language in general. In addition to this, because I am a Human Resources Major, learning about a new culture and learning how to communicate with more people will help me in my business classes as well. From a professional perspective, this trip will help me in my future professional career in Human Resources Management. The ability to speak another language and the ability to better understand the cultures of others will help me be the best at my job that I can be. I am excited to apply what I learn on this adventure to my career and to help the people I work with in the future feel comfortable, understood, and appreciated. The valuable skills and lessons I learn on this trip will be able to help me throughout the rest of my life in all aspects. I am so grateful for this opportunity and am so excited to explore everything Spain has to offer. I can’t wait to share my journey through this blog!