Lucas Fagan ’17
Current city: Zaragoza, Spain Junior at Morristown-Beard School
This year, Lucas Fagan ’17 is embarking on an educational adventure he’ll never forget — and he couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity. Fagan will spend his junior year studying in Spain through the School Year Abroad (SYA) program, where he will live with a family in Zaragoza, a city about three hours from both Madrid and Barcelona. “Learning a new culture will be different, but my classes at MBS have prepared me well to get the most out of the experience,” said Fagan. “The whole idea of living with a new family and seeing their traditions will be exciting. I’m also looking forward to touring Spain and other parts of Europe.” He first learned about the opportunity to study abroad from Aline de la Torre, the Global Studies Coordinator at Morristown-Beard School. “After speaking with her, I realized that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience a new country,” said Fagan. “Today’s world is more connected than ever before, and studying abroad gives you a multi-faceted perspective that’s very valuable.” Fagan will take classes at the SYA School in the city center, where he will study macro economics, history of the Hispanic world, environmental science, AP Spanish, English, and math. All of his courses will be taught in Spanish by native instructors with the exception of English and math, which will be taught in English by American teachers. “I think the biggest challenges will be learning the language and communicating my thoughts,” he said. “People will probably speak faster than I’m used to.” To prepare himself for the trip, Fagan spent much of the summer reading Spanish news and watching Spanish TV shows. At MBS, he has studied Spanish throughout the Middle School as well as two years of honors Spanish in the Upper School. Fagan said he has enjoyed his classes at MBS so far, and he hopes his passion for learning continues during his time in Spain. “At MBS, I look forward to going to school every day. I love it — it’s a great learning environment,” he said. “I’ve especially enjoyed 8th Grade History with Mr. Teasdale, Advanced iOS Programming with Mrs. Napholtz, and all of my math classes.” This past summer, Fagan also took a Stanford University online math course to help him further his interests. “Right now, I think I’d like to pursue math in college, but that could change,” he said. “Studying in Spain could be a life-changing experience, and I’m always open to new ideas.”
Passport to Learning Crimson
Fall 2015
19