As part of our ongoing student spotlight series, all of us at Greenheart Travel are thrilled to introduce our featured high school abroad student, Jacob Pence! Read a little bit about Jacob and his reasons for studying in Spain!
I’m Jacob William Pence, age 16 years old from Carson City, Nevada.
Chili, Salmon or sushi
Listen to music, (my favorite artists right now are ASAP Rocky, J Cole and Schoolboy Q), be with my friends, wakeboard or play lacrosse.
When younger my family and I visited Ireland and last year we went to Belize, but I have never been by myself or to study abroad.
I really wanted to become fluent in the language. I did not really enjoy the first semester of my junior year at Manogue high school. I had just split up with my girlfriend of a year, so a perfect opportunity was created where I could go somewhere new and meet new people while seeing the culture and becoming fluent in Spanish.
I am the most excited about having a (host) brother for the first time and to make new friends from another part of the world.
I will really miss my friends that I have become close with this year, and of course, my family. I think I might also at some point start to miss the English language while I am there. Haha.
I am the most nervous about speaking Spanish. I am also somewhat nervous o go to a new high school.
I would say my Spanish is mediocre. I understand the majority of everything said to me and can return responses. I still struggle with more detailed vocabulary and proper conjugations.
I want to make lots of lifelong connections and become fluent while having fun and maintaining my 4.06 GPA.
I think the most extravagant change I will undergo is that I will become bilingual. I will gain an appreciation for other cultures. I will meet lots of new people which can always have an impact on someone. I think I will learn to be even more self-sufficient as I go through high school in a foreign country with a language I am not totally the best at. I think (and hope) I will experience things I would not be able to in America and it will be life changing.