Switching schools can be difficult academically and socially. Senior Emilia Garibay Romero and freshman Carlota Garibay Romero however received the opportunity to leave school for a month and continue their education in Spain.
Emilia and Carlota got the opportunity to visit Spain through a scholarship that Carlota received from the Rafa Nadal Academy for tennis. They both left on Jan. 10 and came back on Feb. 12. As frightening as it may be to leave school for a month, Emilia and Carlota agree that their teachers helped ease the transition. “The teachers were really nice and good with making all the school work online so I didn’t miss out on much,” Emilia said.
Carlota really enjoyed playing tennis in Spain; it was a new and exciting experience for her. She took the time there to learn new skills that she could use back in Shoreline. Describing the difference between playing tennis in Spain and in Shoreline, she said that “it was really different. I played on a different surface, it was on clay instead of hard court. The weather was also really different compared to Shoreline.” Carlota also mentioned that tennis over in Spain is a little harder, being that it is European tennis. However, she learned a lot of new techniques that she is planning to use in the future. “I learned a lot of footwork, how to read the opponent better and a lot of mental aspects with the game that can help with controlling the motions.”
Tennis wasn’t the only difference in Spain that Carlota and Emilia noticed though. Emilia talked about the difference in languages and how interesting it was to have such a variety of languages spoken that she doesn’t usually hear in Shoreline as often. “There wasn’t a bad language barrier, everyone was pretty friendly and people mainly spoke English and Spanish.” Although there wasn’t too much of a difference in terms of language, Carlota and Emilia did notice a big difference in the food.
“Everything was a lot healthier over there and less processed,” Emilia said. Carlota also mentioned that the academy restricted some of the more fast food, however she still got to try a lot of different foods that she really enjoyed.
Overall, both the sisters enjoyed their experience in Spain. It was a fun and exciting trip for both of them. They especially appreciated the Shorewood teachers who helped them continue their school work over in Spain and also helped them transition back when they came back to Shorewood.
