Sarah McGonigle

During the Fall of 2022, I spent four months living and studying in the province of Andalucia in Southern Spain in one of the most picturesque cities I will ever visit: Seville. And while I spent weekdays cooped up either at home in Los Remedios (a neighborhood near the city center) or at the Universidad de Pablo Olavide on one of many picnic tables, while I spent my weekends traveling.

I’ve been to Lisbon, Sintra, and Praia de Benagil in Portugal; Torre de Antequera (which is also in Andalucia); London, England with some friends I made here during the semester; took the Halloween break to stay in a hostel in Dublin (which if you can, go); went to Disneyland Paris with my best friend who was studying in Florence following a week of stressful midterms; Torino in Northern Italy where I was able to see the Alps and Venice where it rained so hard I needed to buy new shoes; got to Barcelona via train with my best friend I made in Spain as well as a smattering of day trips throughout Spain.

Spain, as a country, is simply astonishing. The way that these historic monuments are built into everyday life is so inspiring. The cities I visited in Spain all hold these great European sites: La Mezquita in Cordoba, La Alhambra in Granada, and the Conjunto Arqueológico De Carmona (a Roman settlement that is now an archaeological site that you can visit and go on tours). I learned so much about Spanish culture and history through these day trips as well as gaining the skills to research and travel in a foreign country.

This experience, as much as it was the best four months of my life, was a very difficult time. Prior to this, I had never been outside of the US much rather to a place where I did not speak the language. I took 5 years of Spanish in middle and high school and did Duolingo every day and still felt lost when I got to Spain. I never want my students to feel like that and I would love to pursue a master’s in Teaching English as a Second language. I know what it feels like to not understand 80% of what is going on around you and I want to help my students feel included and cared about in my classroom.

Céad Míle Fáilte (a hundred thousand welcomes in Gaelic)

Welcome to my page! My name is Sarah McGonigle (and, yes, it is pronounced the same way as Professor McGonagall from Harry Potter). I study Secondary Education with a minor in Political Science and a concentration in History. I was born and raised in Saugus, MA which is about 15 minutes north of Boston. My love for history and politics derives from the fact that some of the most imperative events in American history are less than an hour away from my house.

I love to hike, ski, kayak, and tube( river tubing but nothing too scary). I am also an avid camper- my family goes camping at least three times over the summer and one of those times is to Lake Placid, NY, which is known for being the home of the Winter Olympics in 1932 and 1980.

My favorite movie is Miracle (2004) which explains the Miracle on Ice- or how Herb Brooks led the American men’s hockey team to defeat the then dominant Soviet Union for the silver medal in the 1980 Olympic games. My favorite sport to watch is hockey with a special love for going to the Garden to see the Bruins play with one of my best friends whose family has season tickets (for both the Bruins and the Red Sox).

Over the fall of 2022, I studied in Sevilla through UNE’s Global Studies department and let me say, it is truly worth it. You study at Universidad Pablo de Olavide in the Centro Universidad Internacional and take a smattering of classes and make some great friends along the way. I spent y weekdays studying and the weekends traveling throughout Europe (Portugal, Italy, France, Ireland, England, and some other cities in Spain).

Insta: prof.mcgonigle_