Looking Ahead – Ten Months to Go

By:

Tracy Terpening

Published:

Countries

Demographics

Majors

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I am setting up my travel journal. It’s very exciting to know that in just 10 months, I will be on a plane to Madrid, Spain. I am currently a Foreign Languages undergraduate student at the University of South Alabama. I am older than the average student – 41 currently – and decided to go back to school in 2009. It has been a journey, and here I am about to embark on a journey overseas.

Have you ever sat down and thought – How did I end up here? When I was, say, 12 years old, I never would have thought I would be where I am today – in Alabama, in college, with 4 almost all nearly-grown children, about to travel to Europe!!

I am happy about where I have ended up, though. Life is a non-stop adventure of surprises. I can’t wait to see what’s next!!

I’ll be spending the next several months studying, going to school, working, and preparing for my trip. I’ll try to stop in and blog every so often.

Tracy Terpening

Hi, my name is Tracy Terpening and I grew up in Annapolis, MD. I am 40 years old and I have conquered many difficult circumstances in my life to get where I am today. I started college at the age of 37 and have not looked back since. At times, it has been an uphill battle, but I have gathered my wealth of wisdom, experience, resourcefulness and strong will. As a result, I have been able to confront and rise above all obstacles and my positive attitude has kept me on my path. In addition, I have maintained a grade point average of 4.0. I am currently studying Foreign Languages with a concentration in Spanish at the University of South Alabama in Mobile. Thanks to FEA, I will be spending the summer of 2013 studying Spanish abroad in an immersion program in Madrid, Spain, which will allow me to meet academic requirements to major in Spanish. I also plan to major in English, with an emphasis on Professional Writing, a field in which I will be able to use my translation skills. I plan to pursue a career in which I can influence society to be more tolerant of other cultures and lifestyles. Outside of my field, I plan to find ways to contribute to the integration of Hispanic culture into the United States. Additionally, I aspire to help women and children who are the victims of domestic violence, as well as members of the LGTBQI community; thus being bilingual will enable me to reach that many more people.