Ok, hi, I'm Maddie. I assume most of you already know me, but for those of you who don't... I'm a 21 year old weirdo currently living abroad. I was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. I moved to California a few months after I turned 18 to attend college at San Diego State University. I am a double major in business management and Spanish. I'm in my 4th year at SDSU and will be graduating this May. I was in Lisbon doing an internship for 2 months this summer. After my internship ended, I spent the month of August living in Lisbon. Now I am studying at the Universidad de Murcia on the south-eastern coast of Spain for fall semester. Yes, I am doing this all by myself and no, I'm not scared. I am a very independent person, I have been my whole life. I was raised by a single mother that traveled a lot for work, so I know how to take care of myself. I love starting fresh in places where I know absolutely no one. It's very refreshing. That's part of the reason I went to school in California, because I wanted to start over in a place where no one knew who I was. Moving to Europe for 8 months is a little different since it is a different country and all, but nothing stops me. I'm a big dreamer and I usually make sure my dreams come true. I'm very open minded and outgoing, which makes this transition easy for me. My mom asked me today if I was feeling lonely at all, and I'm not. I'm actually very happy. Yes, I don't have any friends or family here with me, but I have a few familiar faces and I'm excited to meet new people. I love to read and write and take photos, so that's what I'll be focusing my time on when I'm not "studying". I am going to use my time abroad to learn about myself and this beautiful world we live in.