My name is Oksana, I’m from Ukraine but I’m an international student in United States, and I’ve got this wonderful opportunity to be a part of this program and I don’t regret about that because it’s a wonderful experience where you practice and gain new knowledge not only in language: you immerse yourself into culture, traditions, you learn how to do various things that are unusual for you.

And when you are in an introductory course, your brain gets confused and very tired of hearing Spanish all the time, but then, um, the support of your family that is here, the support of PICY representatives helps you to overcome everything and you feel very comfortable. 

I understand that we shouldn’t be afraid of new experiences. Before, I think, I…maybe I was not considering myself to be ready for this, but that’s not true. When we find ourselves in difficult situations, we find out new things about our abilities and especially about languages. 

And now I’m really inspired to learn my Spanish, to improve it. Next year I want to participate in something like this or to be again a part of this program because it’s amazing. What is the most amazing is that we had the experience to live with a real Mexican family. I didn’t feel like I was the guest, I felt that I was a part of the family. We helped them to cook, we helped them to clean the house, we called them mama, papa… it was great, it was wonderful.