As I reflect on my fall semester at Bates College, I am deeply grateful for the opportunities that MVYouth has made possible for me. After working in the Early Childhood Program this past summer at MVCS, I started my third pre-season with the Bates Women’s Soccer Team. I had worked hard over the summer to stay fit and was selected as the starting goalkeeper. While we did not have enough wins to make it to post-season play, I had a wonderful surprise from the MVRHS girls’s soccer team to see our game against Tufts in early October. I was also named to the NESCAC 2023 Fall All-Academic Team. Despite an unfortunate concussion that sidelined me for the last two games, I am grateful for the experiences and growth with my teammates this season. I declared a major in Psychology last year and engaged in challenging coursework this semester with a standout experience in Research Methods. I conducted a randomized survey studying Jewish and Protestant Americans. This hands-on research presented a positive and challenging opportunity to refine my skills in research, data collection, and analysis. The mass-shooting incident at the end of October was extremely scary and, while no one from Bates was directly affected, the Lewiston community continues to recover. I am looking forward to my spring semester abroad in Granada, Spain. I have enrolled in courses that will enrich my Hispanic Studies minor. I will be taking classes in Cross-Cultural Psychology, The Arab World and The West, and Flamenco dancing. The IES program also includes trips to Córdoba, Sevilla, and Morocco! Looking forward, I am hoping to secure an internship in Boston next summer and just learned that I was accepted to a Job Shadow program that will help to refine my internship goals. I am also excited about the opportunity to reside off-campus next fall and planning for my Psychology thesis course.