Junior pitcher Constance Phelan has taken her talents overseas for the 2019 Fall Semester to study at Suffolk's Madrid campus. While stamping her academic passport, Phelan will check in with GoSuffolkRams.com from time-to-time to tell Ram Nation what she has been up to abroad.

Below is the first installment, prior to Phelan's departure. 

I first decided that I wanted to study abroad when I was in high school; it seemed like every college tour I went on was advertising the chance to spend a semester in Europe. After watching Audrey Hepburn’s movie, Roman Holiday,I was convinced that I wanted to spend a semester in Italy my junior year of college. I could not see myself going to any other country. But when I got to Suffolk and learned about the campus in Madrid, I realized that Spain had more to offer me than anywhere else that I could travel to. It offered me the chance to go somewhere and practice a language that I was learning and a culture I had heard so much about, while being able to take classes that pertained to my major. 

Since my decision to go to Madrid, I have learned that a lot of people that I know have spent some part of their lives in Spain; from my best friend, to my advisor, to neighbors, to my boss. Travelling so far on my own has made me nervous, but knowing that so many people I look up to have had such an amazing experience is comforting. Everyone I have talked to has said it was one of the most amazing places that they have had the opportunity to travel to. I have received a list of places to visit that is so long I do not know if I will ever be able to finish it within a semester. 

I cannot believe that my journey abroad is finally here, but I am so excited for the new adventure that I am about to embark on. The hardest part so far has been trying to pack an entire semester into two suitcases (I am sure I am forgetting to pack something). 

Fans, families, alumni and friends can check in with what Isaak and Phelan are up to over sees by following their adventures on GoSuffolkRams.com or over social media by using the hashtag #RAMsinterNATIONal.