High School Senior to Study Abroad

Think studying abroad is only for college kids?  Think again: Wantagh’s own Lyndsay Goldfarb, high school senior, is about to live for four months as a foreign exchange student in Alicante, Spain.

Yes, Spain the country; a seven and a half hour flight.

Lyndsay will be part of the CIEE program, the Council on International Educational Exchange, which sends students to and from China, Italy, Australia, Ireland, Spain and more, to study with peers in an entirely different culture, often speaking a different language.  In addition to the obvious Spanish immersion Lyndsay will receive while living with a host family, she’ll have a Chinese roommate.

From the beginning of September to the beginning of January Lyndsay will study at a Spanish-speaking public high school; a full semester abroad, taking away half of her last year at Wantagh Public Schools.

When asked why she decided to make such a huge decision, her answer was selfless.  “I know that I won't be happy in life if I'm not helping people. I wanted to learn Spanish because I hope to work in third world countries, and knowing a second language I'll be able to work in more countries which I'll be able to communicate with,” she says, relating back to her time in the Dominican Republic last summer.  “I fell in love with traveling and experiencing a new part of the world.”

The program is intensive, and requires a minimum GPA and an application.  Common classes include Spanish language and literature, history, philosophy, math, art history, geography, and even P.E. - familiar and unfamiliar subjects.  But having background knowledge in any of these courses previously only helps so much - try learning calculus in Spanish.  (Although, calculus is arguably foreign to most of us anyway.)  There are plenty of opportunities to receive help overcoming that language barrier, with a two day orientation in Barcelona, a supportive host family, and peers wanting to learn from foreigners as much as the incoming foreigners want to learn from locals.

For most seniors, applying to college is the biggest thing on their minds from September to January - for Lyndsay, it’s that on top of everything she’ll be learning in Spain.  The fact that most applications are filled out entirely online is crucial to Lyndsay, as she will be applying from so far away.  She assures that she will have to stay in close contact with the Wantagh guidance department and pay attention to due dates.  A 6 hour time difference can certainly cut into a deadline.

Will Lyndsay miss seeing her friends and family every day?  Well, who wouldn’t.  But it being 2013, she can use the internet and an international phone plan to stay in contact with her loved ones.  And despite it being 2013, her and her friends have agreed to write letters occasionally.  She says that missing friends and family is the main source of her nerves, but is otherwise ecstatic about where the experience will take her.  “I have no idea what Spain will bring me, but I am a strong believer in that everything happens for a reason and that great things are going to come from this!”

Lyndsay is a member of the National Honor Society, Key Club, and volunteers at Nassau University Medical Center, among other activities.   Her presence at Wantagh High School will be missed - but everyone wishes her well as she embarks on such an amazing adventure, and is excited to hear about her experience when she returns.