Seeking My Next Adventure

I’m a journalism senior at the University of Florida, and I’m looking for my next gig for after I graduate in May.

But before I start a new internship or job, I want to cross something off the bucket list… When I was 12, I traveled through England, France and Italy with a tour guide who spoke five languages. After watching her converse easily everywhere we went, I decided I wanted to learn as many languages as I could stuff into my brain. If I can’t speak with people from different countries and cultures, then I’ll miss opportunities to gain their knowledge and understand their perspectives. I want to be able to connect with people with nothing lost in translation. So in high school I started with Spanish. I’ve practiced with locals in Mexico, Costa Rica and Peru and studied abroad in Ecuador and Spain. I am so close to being fluent.

This summer I’m going to travel and volunteer in Central America. In mid-July, I’ll start a three-month position as a hiking guide with Quetzaltrekkers, a nonprofit based in León, Nicaragua. I’ll travel through Central America for about a month before that, investigating environmental and social issues, interviewing interesting people, writing and producing multimedia pieces. When I return to the States, I’ll be ready to handle the Spanish-speaking situations that come my way.

I’ll also be ready to jump into a job.