*Dear Ahrian,

I just wanted to write and thank you and the foundation for allowing me to study abroad in Spain this summer. While in Spain, I was able to fulfill my foreign language requirements for my Math and Psychology degrees by completing two Spanish language courses – Spanish I and Spanish II. In all, I earned 8 credit hours and two A’s. I attended Centro Universitario de Maristas in Salamanca, Spain. CUM was a fifteen minute walk to the Plaza Mayor, a Spanish shopping and food Mecca. Also while in Spain, I visited Madrid, Toledo, Seville, Grenada, and Caceres. I was taken on a walking tour of all of these cities, including Salamanca. I was able to see beautiful gothic cathedrals from the 13^th century and modern cathedrals and city halls from the 16^th century.

Thanks to you all, I was also able to travel to Portugal towards the end of the semester. We stayed near the beach in Algarve, Portugal and despite it being significantly colder than Spain; I still had a lot of fun. The last three days of my trip were spent in Paris, France. Because the hotel did not have a room for me when we arrived, I was upgraded to a presidential suite, where I had a beautiful view of the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the Seine River, and a Cathedral. I got to ride the Paris Metro system and stand under the Eiffel Tower!

"THANK YOU" does not even begin to express how grateful I am for you and the Foundation giving me the opportunity to live in Spain for an entire month. I never imagined I would ever stand near the Arc de Triomphe. I never dreamed of waking up in Madrid and walking to the Plaza Mayor for dinner. I couldn’t imagine watching the Eiffel Tower light show from a boat on the Seine River. I cried whenever we visited a new city and most of my peers couldn’t understand why I was doing so. I was not crying because my feet were tired of all the walking tours – even though the cobble stone streets in Spain will wear your feet out – I was crying because I couldn’t believe where I was, what was happening, and that I was actually living this! Had it not been for you and the Foundation, I probably would have never traveled abroad! What the Foundation granted me was more than permission to study in another country; it gave me a life experience that I am still in disbelief about. How many students my age can say that they lived in Spain for an entire month? Thanks to the J Craig and Page T Smith foundation, I can now say just that!

 

Thank you again!

 

 

 

*Smith Foundation Family,

     "Words cannot explain the gratitude we have for the Smith Foundation Family.  We had a hard first year, but made it through alive and well.  We have realized just how blessed we truly are to have such a great "family" support system.  If it were not for the generous people such as Ms. Mignon and all of you guys at the Foundation, we would be lost".  THANK YOU!