Two Americans step off a plane in Madrid, Spain and contemplate their first impressions of a foreign land. One person thinks to himself how confusing the signs are compared to back home. He tries to scope out a vendor selling hamburgers, as he curses the European food served on the plane. The other inhales the new air while admiring the structure and creativity of the architecture. He notices the habits of the natives as they avoid eye contact and communicate quietly in as few words as possible. Tourists are bias in what they encounter, limiting how much they consume of a new place, while travelers are open to new ideas and traditions. Travelers make vacationing worthwhile; tourists give Americans a bad name. I was fortunate enough to know the difference between the two, and took on all five weeks with my eyes and ears open.
             Traveling to Spain opened a door in my life that I had not previously found. I was able to live on my own, bound by only the money that I had saved up for the trip. No one could be fully prepared to encounter a new way to live, like myself, I tried my hardest to adapt and learn. It was difficult at first, but I adjusted, as I grasped the Spanish language and mastered the routine of my host family. I attended a local college, the Universidad de Cantabria, five days a week with fellow Americans and found it enjoyable. It was not until after the trip that I realized I was ready for college in the states. I looked back on the challenges that I overcame like the 20-minute walk to school that my roommate and I found together, or the decisions that we faced concerning the nightlife in Santander. I realized that I had successfully completed something that many adolescents could not have done. This influenced me to pursue an academically outstanding college with a large and diverse population. I plan on completing my schoolwork at the University of Texas at Austin while maintaining an impressive aca...