I am an engineer, a musician, and a photographer, but I am a human by profession. As humans, we create; my greatest interests include creating ideas, sounds, and images. While the motivation for my studies is to improve the human condition, my most fulfilling passion in life has been to create the most interesting story possible for myself, achievable by maintaining a laid-back and open attitude, and by traveling.

I have been blessed to enjoy amazing trips to England and France with my high school choir, China with my rising senior class, Mexico with my family, and Japan with my friends throughout the past 6 years, and I feel ready to take on South America in the next 5 months.

I have taken Spanish classes throughout the past 9 years, (nearly half my lifetime, come to think of it), but I have not achieved complete fluency and have known since the 6^th grade that I would only be able to attain this goal by living abroad. The IPD Santiago Exchange through the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile was a perfect fit for me, a rising junior engineer with fall quarter requirements galore. I am soul-searching in a way, and choosing a program in which only 4 NU students will take part will give me the independence I need to make the most of my immersion.

I am interested to see how I adapt to homestay life and Chilean Spanish. I hope to develop a greater passion for writing and photography by documenting my experiences, and I plan to form meaningful relationships with other international exchange students as well as with the Chilean people.