I had the best time of my life during my time at Northwestern. I cannot deny that the first week was an uncomfortable and awkward time. It was strange to be surrounded by people from places I knew barely anything about, from states I never even thought about, like Colorado and Wisconsin. However, I realized that across languages, cultures, and states, I had so many similarities with the people. I found solidarity with the other girls who were also having a hard time adjusting to being far away from home for a long period of time. Across the span of six weeks, I learned how to read Plato, Hesiod, Ovid, Aristotle, and other authors from Ancient Greece. I also grew to love the beauty of Greek Mythology and its effects on modern mythology, literature, and other forms of art. With these new friends, we explored Chicago and Evanston. We enjoyed free musical festivals in Millennium Park, food festivals like Taste of Chicago, and we saw the Bean, the John Hancock Building, Sears Tower, and ate some of the best pizza I've ever had the pleasure of having. I learned that I was a much better student than I thought I was; I loved studying and learning history -- I did not feel forced to study because I enjoyed it a lot. I met a lot of inspiring international students, who juggled three classes all in English. In addition to having incredible student focus, they showed so much interest in doing tourist activities, learning more English, and also sharing their own cultures.

Thank you so much to all who contributed to my campaign, I had the best and most enriching summer of my life thanks to your amazing generosity and care.

I am so excited to fly out to Chicago and make my way to the beautiful Northwestern University! I am nervous to be so far away from home for such a long time, but I know it's going to be amazing. I have never been way from home for so long, let alone, so far. However, I am so excited to learn about Classical Mythology. This has been the hardest school year I have has so far. More times than I ever expected, I wasn't getting amazing scores, but I learned more about myself as a student than ever. The way that I was able to pick up my grades and abilities shows me how I really can handle so many challenges. I know I am going to have an amazing six weeks learning and exploring.