Jonathan Thompson '02 Universidad de Oviedo, Spain
		Choosing to study in Spain has been one of my best decisions in life.   I have made some of the best friends of my life, tasted new flavors of food and drink, visited monuments of historical significance, and experienced the thrill of communicating in a foreign language, which has ceased to be “foreign” and is now a part of me and my communicative process.  I have faced challenges of adaptation, social integration, and representation of my nationality augmented by the difficulty of resolution and interchange in a second language, which made me appreciate my pre-existing language base from college studies.  In summation, my biggest revelation regarding living and studying abroad is that there is something extravagantly delightful about traversing one’s cultural, physical, and communicative sphere to inhabit a foreign one.  Stereotypes, customs, and preferences are all attuned and formed anew.  A shared archetypal human behavior and intelligence is distinguished from the thick weave of culture, history, and language.  In essence, one learns not just about a foreign culture, but also about himself and human nature in general.  As has been said, one can never know her own language until she has studied another, so also I believe it can be said that one can never understand his own cultural identity unless he experiences that of another.  All in all, I would not trade my experience for anything, and I highly recommend the study of a foreign language and culture to anyone who wishes to broaden his worldview and heighten his self-awareness.