I have three goals that I have set for my study abroad experience. My first goal is to further increase my speaking, writing, and hearing proficiencies in Spanish within one month. I want to achieve this goal, by mostly speaking in Spanish to my peers, professors, and people I will encounter in Mexico. I will try to adapt Spanish as my main tongue and learn through the process through trial and error, and using the resources available to Another one of my goals is to be used to new surroundings. I can imagine what Mexico will be like, but I will never truly know what it is like until I go. I admit that I will be extremely nervous by going into a foreign land all by myself with no family members to accompany me, but I feel that this will be the right direction to get out of my sheltered comfort zone. I need to explore and get out of this country in order to learn new things, meet strangers, and see amazing things; I need to be confident in myself so that I have persevered and improve myself for the future. My third and final goal is to become a better person and be more open; I will achieve this goal by trying my best in Mexico and bringing back the lessons it has taught me.

I believe I will have several challenges I will face studying abroad in Mexico. The first challenge will be dealing with the culture shock, as I will face a very unfamiliar surrounding in a foreign country, compared to the one that I have been familiar with for almost all of my life. I will overcome this challenge by being proper, polite, open, and accepting of all of the new things that I will experience on this trip, and learn from the new environment I will be in for one month. The second challenge will be improving my Spanish skills. It will be difficult to speak my second-learned language in a language that primarily speaks Spanish; it will also be hard to speak with others fluent in Spanish. I am afraid that I will be nervous and inadequate in my speaking skills, however, I plan to learn as much as I can from my experiences and conversations with other strangers and friends, and make the best of it, continuing my education outside the classroom and using it in real life situations that I will encourage myself to create and begin. My third challenge will be dealing with homesickness. I have a tendency to be saddened on long vacations and trips, as I usually panic about events happening at home without me being there to experience there. However, I plan to keep myself busy in Mexico and come back home, accomplishing many goals, experiencing new things, and being comfortable in another land than my own.